#and as much as Beau goes entirely out of his way to basically run the risk of sacrificing himself so Katw can live

[hellonoblesky]

I’m. Still not normal about . The. Yeah you know what this is about they love me because they see me through your eyes etc etc it was you it was always you It has to be etc etc Beau and Kate and their friendship of all time etc etc

[xehanortsreport]

For @khoc-week 2021, Day 1: Reference Sheet - reintroducing Spica!

They’ve changed quite a bit since the last round! So here’s the basics.

Spica Species: Dream Eater Home World: Twilit Bayou (Original World) Age: ~Late 20s Occupation: Deposed Princex, Summoner Relationships:      - Vindemiatrix (Demia): Younger sibling, rival      - Ansem, Seeker of Darkness: Partner, rescuer      - Xigbar (Luxu): Partner, mentor in Dream Eater research      - ???: A mysterious figure often crossed in Sleeping Hearts. Kind, and gentle. A friend, or perhaps an enemy? Weapon: Slumber’s Call (staff) Gender: Unassigned by tradition, goes by any pronouns

More on their backstory and personality below!

Twilit Bayou

Spica's world is set in a permanently foggy, misty, twilit bayou (hah). Constantly lit by gas lamps and settled by a society of disciplined, spiritual people, and ruled by Spica’s equally disciplined family, the mood is somber. The people are constantly in conflict with beasts warped and turned violent by the world’s natural ��wild magic” that bubbles up from faults outside of the settled landscape. As such, a militia headed by the noble family is permanently employed to manage the beasts and are held in high esteem.

Similarly, another esteemed class are the summoners that run exclusively in Spica’s bloodline. Every ruler is expected to also be a master summoner--and for good reason. Dream Eaters, pulled forth from the Sleeping Realms by the summoners, are sent to help calm the wild magic afflicted beasts and make them easier to tame, or else be dealt with by the militia.The people of Twilit Bayou see the Dream Eaters as important godlike spirits, and in particular worship a special, very powerful Dream Eater that they summon during their Winter Solstice to purge their people of nightmares and put the beasts to sleep for an entire season.

Spica, at the time 15, the next in line for the throne and accomplished summoner with many lesser Dream Eaters, is one day called to prove their worth and summon the Dream Eater deity and prove themself worthy to ascend to the throne when it is their time.

Except...they don’t succeed.

Backstory

For a reason still unknown to them or those present, they mess up the summon, unable to bring it forth at all. Instead, Nightmares are brought forth, afflicting the people with sleep issues and the beasts unsettled and allowed to charge forth. The price paid by Spica was a worldwide shunning; shooed away in shame by their strict parents and seen as a portent of disaster by the townsfolk, they were kept in shameful solitude and privacy out of the public eye. Only a few servants, one a particularly funny entertainer for tired troops who taught them how to cope with humor, and Demia, Spica’s sibling, dared treat them with dignity and kindness.

Demia, though only 11 at the time, decided to cram their summoner studies into one feverish month, and then at the apex of the Bayou’s suffering, burst forth and summoned the legendary Dream Eater at an unheard of age, settling the beasts and bringing sweet dreams back to their denizens. Demia was miraculous. A genius.

Honorable, unlike Spica.

Spica was eventually sent to a boarding school, locked away as punishment and forced to restudy every lesson on summoning they had touched. Spiteful and envious, Spica used this time to work diligently to find a way to become a better summoner than Demia. They're able to summon many Dream Eater Spirits and Nightmares, and eventually traverse the realm of sleep itself.

Eventually, years pass, and during one of the winter solstice summonings, Spica manages to muscle their way to the front and snatch the summoning from Demia by summoning the Dream Eater deirt and merging with it in a never before seen ritual. It’s glorious, miraculous. Genius.

Blasphemous.

Unlike Demia, they are not praised for their innovation. Instead, they are once again persecuted, the kingdom prepared to get rid of Spica entirely. Demia, thinking in terms of sheer practicality and a mixture of wanting to save their sibling and not wanting to be shunned like Spica, made the split decision at the time of summoning to dismiss the Dream Eater with Spica still merged with it.

Floating scared and with seemingly no exit, they spent an unknown amount of time in the repeating dreams of lost worlds. This being pre-KH1, the lost worlds are not the same as those seen in DDD, but are a different set of worlds, some belonging to the Age of Fairy Tales that had been lost when that age had come to an end. To ease their loneliness and pain, they spent a long time among these worlds, learning snippets of what they have to offer.

They were able to briefly exit the realm by diving into the dreams of others, but this only lead them to live instead inside of the sealed world of another person’s dreams until that person’s sleep ends. It was disorienting, and uncomfortably personal at times, but a welcome distraction from the otherwise neverending repetition of the Sleeping Worlds.

Their grudge against Demia deepens while trapped, their bitterness expanding with no outlet. The weight of their anger and displeasure strengthened their power as a Nightmare, and thus disturbed the dreams of the humans they visit in their sleep. (One person, however, seemed resistant to these nightmares. Blond, blue eyed...a kind soul. Spica couldn’t help but be intimidated by their purity.)

Eventually, however, a rift they do not expect to see opens. It is as though another World has slipped, however briefly, into the Sleeping Realm, and a surge pulses  through the cracks. A man within a brown cloak emerged from a whirl of Darkness, seemingly confused but enthusiastic with the discovery...and then they lock eyes...or rather Spica’s eyes locked with the endless shadows underneath the hood.

Curiosity with curiosity.

After a few words of exchange, accusatory and then slowly, surely, excited, Spica introduces themself to Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, and their savior from the Sleeping Realm. Spica at first merely accompanies Ansem out of a feeling of obligation, exiting with him into the Hollow Bastion of KH1, and merely works as a hand to help him in his plot. During their conversations, however, unusual information reached Spica’s ears: someone searching for the very keybearer Ansem was working against. Someone seeking the legendary power of Kingdom Hearts, or perhaps the good will of a keybearer, to aid their kingdom.

A certain Vindemiatrix.

Having fallen in love with the mysterious cloaked being and swearing their life to both revenge and the pursuit of the greatest power a mage could posses, Spica formally aligned with Ansem, and then later the Organization, to keep Demia from helping the Keybearers, denying her and Twilit Bayou aid.

Instead, Spica, promised a portion of the power of Kingdom Hearts by Xigbar, another beau and co-conspirator down the line, their goal becomes the need to lock Twilit Bayou in an eternal cycle of sleep as "an apology" ...and as a sort of twisted protective measure and to prove that they have mastered their sleep magic once and for all. 

Personality Notes

     - They are highly intuitive, and quick to get defensive.

     - They speak in a Valley Girl-esque dialect.

     - Flippant and easy-going, the way a lot of “lazy geniuses” are. When they don’t know something, they immediately get defensive and swear up and down that they know. (They don’t.)

     - They get a lot of joy out of being the most knowledgeable person in a group and will often feel lost or aimless if they are unable to contribute in some way to a discussion.

    - They have a hard time accepting genuine displays of affection because of family issues. Still, they're intensely loyal to Ansem and Xigbar, particularly Ansem as he's the one who pulled them out of the sleeping realm. Ironically the “inability” of Nobodies to have “emotions” makes them trust the words that come out of Xigbar’s mouth that much more. Time will tell if that is a mistake.

     - Sometimes thinks they’re still sleeping; grounding techniques are needed.

     - Despite everything, their weakness is an honest heart. They can't help but lower their defenses when no one is interested in metaphorical dick measuring and instead just genuinely wants the best for others. They’ve wandered around the sleeping Princesses of Hearts' dreams before, as well as Sora and the Soras.

     - The self-reflection said encounters hit him with are often uncomfortable and they emotionally shut down before they can think about it too long.

[pomp-and-circumstance]

Episode 112.

Be still my heart. (AKA shit got real but first we’re going to talk about feelings.)

Jester checks in with Yasha about the death of Mollymauk and the revival of his body, which, in true Jester fashion, turns into her asking Yasha about Beau and her feelings. This was really interesting for me to watch because Jester witnessed Yasha tell everyone in the previous episode that the mirror “would be useful,” but once she insinuates they share a bed, without any kind of sexual vibe, Yasha turns into a flustered, stammering mess. Who better to gently lead Yasha through this than Jester herself, who immediately gets that there’s something deeper going on here than an interest in a one night thing. Her teasing playfulness turns into a beautiful kindness, and she gets to see, for the first time, the woman who fell in love once a long time ago.

There’s a lot of this that feels key for me here, and I haven’t had a lot of coffee this morning, but Imma try and get my thoughts in order anyway. 

Only two people in the Nein know the deep heartache Yasha suffers from losing Zuala: Caduceus and Jester. Jester watched the painful guilt slowly reveal itself from “you’re chosen a mate, but I fell in love with someone else” to “I don’t know where she’s buried, but I have so many flowers to bring her.” She’s watched Yasha suffer over and over again, but here she bears witness to something truly unique - Yasha overwhelmed with the butterflies in the stomach one gets when they really care. On top of all that, Yasha doesn’t know what to do, because of course she doesn’t know what to do. The only other relationship she had in her life had to be in secret. It’s kind of a wonder she’s admitting any of this to Jester in the first place, but that she’s doing so says a lot, and Jester doesn’t miss a moment of that. 

Enthusiastic Cheerleader Laura Bailey engages in some kind hearted teasing that basically oozes with it’s okay, Yasha, this is supposed to be fun energy. The two of them are suddenly teenagers at a sleepover talking about a crush and the best way to leave a note in their locker. “You don’t get nervous easily. If you’re getting flustered, that says something. Maybe I should leave.”

“No no! I don’t feel like I’m ready!”

“Okay! I’ll stay in the room!” (God bless you Jester, and your kindness.)

“... shit, I don’t know what to do!”

Watching Yasha discover that it’s okay to be vocal about these kinds of things is such an adventure. She’s so concerned with overstepping a boundary with Beau, but is too nervous to take a chance and see what that boundary even is, or if it even exists. (”I feel like I shouldn’t know this because it’s not from her, you know?... I just, she-she-she-she-she makes me so nervous.” This same woman tore the wings off Obann’s back.) Watching Jester try to hold back her excitement for her friends is like watching a hyperactive puppy run in the park for the first time. It’s such a complete disaster of a conversation that is so relatable and almost awkward to watch until Yasha opens up and becomes just that much more vulnerable.

“She makes me sweaty and, like, warm and fuzzy at the same time, and then I see her do things and them I’m just like, I want to--I want to kiss her so bad. And then that makes me feel kinda bad.”

I had to stop and think about this for a second because the first thing that came to mind was, of course, some kind of Dope Monk Shit Beau had done in the past that would make Yasha think this, but if she’s so adamant that her role is to protect, I don’t feel like she’d let something like that distract her in the heat of battle. (I may be proven wrong later, who knows, I’m mostly saying I don’t think she’d grab Beau in the middle of the BBEG fight and kiss her or anything.) What I immediately thought of after, though, was the previous episode when Beau was trying to line things out to the Nein about her theories regarding the Nine Eyes. There’s a moment where Beau is being praised, and Yasha with a bit of awe in her voice goes, “That’s a breakthrough.” It’s so simple and so easily missed in the moment. (I believe Beau immediately turns it around on her and says she deserves credit for a point she made, which Yasha immediately deflects and says she didn’t come up with nearly the amount of theories Beau did.) I think Yasha is holding far more than awe in that moment. I think that’s a peek into a moment she wishes she could have kissed her, shown some kind of affection, something, to show how proud she is of Beau.

So, at the end, when she says “that makes me feel kinda bad,” I don’t think she’s talking about a leftover something with Zuala - though maybe she is, and that’s valid, she’s always going to love Zuala and moving on with grief is painful and hard, even if you’ve told yourself it’s okay to - I think she genuinely doesn’t know what to do, and open affection with someone isn’t something she’s used to doing, but on top of that, I also wonder if it means she doesn’t want to be quiet with Beau, in the sense that she doesn’t want to hide how she feels. She doesn’t want another romance with secrecy, she wants to be able to love loudly, and she might have permission, so to speak, to do that, but that doesn’t mean she knows what to do with it.

Going back to Laura for a second - watching her in this conversation is so interesting because I think she caught Ashley totally unprepared for a conversation like this, which is why parts of it are so awkward and why they’re giggling throughout a portion of it. (I don’t think she did it maliciously, I think she’s being Jester and Jester would be this forthright and Ashley was just like “well shit, here we go!”) Jester is trying to be a wingman in the way only Jester can be, and when it’s clear Yasha’s anxiety comes from nerves, she drops this beautiful nugget that’s got a lot of Jester but a lot of Laura, too:

“Yasha, you can’t feel guilty for how you feel. If she makes you feel happy, that’s a wonderful thing. That’s so rare.”

Laura’s face gets me every time. She’s digging into a deep place here, and she’s doing it gently. Someone made you happy once before, Yasha. You know what this feels like. You have a chance to have it again.

“It is so rare.”

And with three sentences, the entire dynamic of the conversation changes.

Yasha suddenly takes charge of this thing and starts making suggestions to Jester, telling her she feels like she’s been given a lot of confidence, “maybe stay in the room so it doesn’t seem obvious, I’ll sleep on the floor tonight and I’ll figure it out.” Sure doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t know what to do to me. (I mean, it does, but you know what I'm saying.) Then, after being so nervous about knowing something she felt like she should have heard from Beau, Jester assures her “that’s not the vibe I got” and she runs with it. “It’s not? Ok ok.” She’s suddenly got some confidence in this tangle of nerves, but at least she’s going to make an attempt to do something about it.

(Marisha has a face here that kills me, btw, after Jester says Yasha should talk to Beau, and Yasha says yeah, it’s best to talk to the source:

“The source is waiting, babe, I got time.”)

Speaking of Marisha, her facial journey during this poem workshop is an experience best had on your own time. Screenshots can’t do it justice. I’m going to take one image and make it my phone’s background without any context, ‘cause “eyes so blue and hair so shorn on the sides” makes her lose her shit.

(Bonus Taliesin, who can’t even.)

What I didn’t realize, though, is how quickly Beau comes back into the room after this talk between Beau and Jester, which means Ashley has only moments to really push Yasha Nydoorin of Seven Charisma, and like the badass she is, she’s got it totally under control from the first flustered “Hello!”

Because understanding your feelings and coming to terms with them about someone else is one thing. Excecution, however... is something else entirely. And while playing a suave personality that can charm the socks off anyone is fun, going to that place where you stammer and talk too much and nothing makes sense is so much more endearing. It makes the little moments where you get things “right,” so to speak, so much more. And so much more to launch off of, as Yasha immediately caves back into that place when she realizes she reached out and touched the glitter on Beau’s face, oh shit, I don’t know what to do, umm, I’m tired I guess.

(Bonus Laura, who is so proud of Yasha for being bold and basically needs a Beauyasha membership card that reads 0001/2 at this point.)

But keep in mind, this flustered nonsense isn’t just from Yasha, it’s also from Beau, who, while a little tipsy, has zero liquid courage in this moment and is just as much a stammering mess as Yasha herself is. Even more noteable is when Yasha makes a joke about “schnuggling”... Beau is almost ready to take Yasha up on that offer. “I mean, I--” is Marisha’s exact quote before Yasha backpedals and says she’s kidding. (Yet another tiny example of Marisha letting Ashley take the lead, whether it was intentional or not.) Confident Beau who oozed with sexual prowess becoming an actual disaster under the flirtatious radar of Yasha is my favorite thing in the world. That was probably the longest space of time between waking and sleeping for either of them, and Jester got to bare witness to all of their growth in its beautiful, awkward, “oh god, just schnuggle already” glory.

Taliesin is the real MVP here, who said what I’ve been thinking every time I’ve watched highlights of this part, but didn’t know it actually happened until now, “I assume they all take a point of exhaustion because none of them sleep. Just lie there.”

Even Travis, Honorary Beauyasha Membership Card holder number 0001/2, is in on it.

I adore everything about this scene. We all need a little dash of disaster lesbians in our lives. It’s gonna be okay, you two. I promise.

[captainsspnanon]

C2E52 - Feral Business - rewatch reaction

Ugh, being sick and missing work is good for one thing only.  CR when I’m not sleeping.  *takes more meds*

Watching Talks is just making me miss it so much.  I’m still trying to give 4 sided dive a chance, but I just miss the level of detail that we used to get.  The benefits of having it right after each episode, pretty much just questions, and only two players.  Once a month with three or four gimmick sections with four players doesn’t leave much time for the detailed questions and info that we used to get.

Liam is announced as the opponent for DnD Beyond!!!!  I admit, I’m very curious how much of Liam’s stuff is created by himself and how much is created by Sam.  We know that Ashley’s roast (coming later) was written by her and Brian, but we also know that for a lot of the long running bits (NORDiverse, for example) that Sam writes the entirety and the cast just goes along.  I like to think that Liam wrote his own bits, because they do sound like they’re in his voice.

OMG.  They’re talking about launching the kickstarter!!!  I’M WATCHING HISTORY AGAIN!!!!  First time I saw this, the kickstarter was already funded and over, but the show still wasn’t up.  This was some time between January and June 2021 when I saw this (I had caught up with the campaign JUST in time to watch the finale live.  I’d literally finished 140 just over a day before.)  AND NOW.  AND NOW the show is LIVE (first season) and it is AMAZING.  Genuinely, I love it far more than I expected to, especially because I don’t feel super close with VM (looking forwards to my eventual C1 rewatch to see if that may change anything).  So watching this the first time, I had the foreknowledge of them having raised so much money.  THIS TIME, I have the foreknowledge of how the show is, how highly acclaimed it is, how many new people it’s brought into CR, I HAVE ALL THE FEEELS.

Lol Matt uses the Henry Crabgrass voice right before the intro *heart*

Okay, two things. One, upon being told that he’s pretty small for an orc, Fjord’s defensiveness takes over and it gives me a whole heckin lot of feels considering how much Fjord has wrestled with his own self image, both physically and emotionally.  His journey to self-acceptance is honestly so powerful to watch, especially because it does come so slowly that you almost don’t realize it until all of a sudden, he’s there.  Two, it totally sounds like they’re talking about Fjord’s penis size.

Jester freaking out when Beau goes to look at the beacon, taking Gluzzo aside to make sure he doesn’t see it.  Totally didn’t notice this first time around, she hasn’t shared yet about the Luxon, so they don’t even know yet!  I wonder what Matt would have done had she not taken initiative here?

WAIT.  DO they already know about the Kryn being reborn and the souls going into the beacon??? Or did Jester just guess WAY more than expected??  The Kryn in the sewers did say reborn too. Hmmm.

LOL at Matt having Marisha’s polymorph give her Molly’s penis XD

This may be my limited perspective here, but I do NOT get why the entire table got wet at the introduction of a minotaur. XD  No shade at all, let the monsters-fuckers freak flag fly!  But it was like this IMMEDIATELY horny switch flip for basically everyone XD

MOORBOUNDERS MOORBOUNDERS MOORBOUNDERS

Horny!Nott is amazing and I love every moment of it.  Oh Sam, never change.

AS SOON AS Matt starts speaking as Zorth, Travis dies of laughter.  This is why, as much as I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable with them laughing at Orly’s voice, I know that it’s appreciation of a voice and not a mockery.  Also, I don’t think Liam has ever looked more in love with Matt than at this moment.  I FEEL THAT, Zorth is AMAZING.  In terms of design though, I wonder if Zorth was fully created between sessions because Matt knew they were going into the city to look for mounts, or if he had been planned out before hand and to what level.

Top table is DYING this entire time (and someone is snorting when laughing but I can’t tell who, usually it’s Marisha when she’s REALLY dying) both from Zorth and from Sam.

I have no recollection of Fireline, and I don’t even remember seeing it on the list that Sam shared in his picture!!  But again, I LOVE when they do set plays, it just provides so much more depth to their history together!  What were they doing that prompted this play?  Who came up with it (probably Caleb)?  How many times have they used it before?  I do think, out of all three campaigns, that this is still the pre-group that I’m the most interested in what their time was like together.  Like, give me a Caleb & Nott novel, please!  (No, I have not read Kith and Kin.  I might read it or get the audio book when I’m doing the C1 rewatch)

Oh dammit.  Now that they’re fully on the CR channel, the breaks are back in the middle of the youtube vids.  *skips forwards*

omg beau is talking about how she wanted a pet rat

Awww, Nott just did Fury of the Small for 8 damage, and all I can think of is that the new dnd book replaces that to where it’s only proficiency bonus instead (but it can be used more than just once, but only restores on a long rest)

I always feel so bad for Laura!!  I can’t tell if she genuinely misses more than other players (at least as Jester) or if she is just more vocal about it. It FEELS like she misses more

I’m not 100% sure, but I think this might be the only time that Matt has actually knocked Ashley’s PC unconscious when she’s not at the table.  He definitely made the deliberate choice not to attack her again, which GOOD.  (though to be fair, he very very rarely has enemies attack PCs when they go down, unless their boss battles like Lorenzo and Lucien) (also to be fair, Pike was jaegered very few times, while Yasha was a lot more)

I have to admit, now that I’m actually using DnD Beyond, I’m very confused when they always have trouble finding their saving throws or proficiencies, languages and stuff.  Like, it’s right on the main page?  Though I am using my laptop as compared to a tablet, so maybe the mobile version is shittier.  Also I’m not mentioning the other things that they struggle to look up, because I haven’t used it for a caster so don’t know how difficult that is (I mean, aside from my tiny tiny pool of TWO ranger spells XD), and looking up things like creatures to polymorph and stuff?  Not a fricken clue.

Hot Take Time: I think Taliesin is actually the weakest player mechanically (aside from Ashley) during combat, despite being someone who played for the longest time.  I don’t remember Percy’s combat too well aside from damage dealer, but he struggles a lot with his turns in C2 both as Molly and as Caduceus.  He also tends to forget or mess up a lot of rules, not usually for his own PC.

First portal down! Also major props to Laura for figuring it out very early on in the combat!  Or at least, speculating about it to the point where they decide IC to check.

The bell rope pull!!!  I completely thought this took place with the Bright Queen’s place (cannot remember the name of it for the life of me at the moment).  Then again, I also forgot that they ended up meeting the Lady here, but now that it’s been prompted I’m remembering it.

Oh man that ‘resume’ discussion! This is why I was always a little confused why Beau is included in the Chaos Crew, because it really feels like it should just be Nott and Jester – but at least they’re still the Detective Duo.

Uh oh Dairon!  I forgot that they’d had you sussed out!  Which is actually very surprising to me, considering we see how much Dairon is able to get away with later in the campaign.  But still, looking forwards to seeing her again.

Here’s something that doesn’t make sense to me.  Why do people in Asarius refer to Rosohna as Ghor Dranas?  We later find out that this is an outdated name basically used by the Empire.  But here, the Lady specifically calls it Ghor Dranas.

(To be fair, I am having mix-ups with my Xhorhas memories.  Last episode I was talking about how Gluzzo could have lashed out at the ‘arrogant humans’, but this episode specifically reaffirms that there are multiple humans in Asarius, so there’s probably not the racial prejudice so much [though there definitely is SOME], more than the regional prejudice)

Also this does explain why they don’t get the 10k gold which I was like ‘WHEN DO THEY GET THAT???’ because they have most of it traded for the favor to meet the Bright Queen.  I think they probably get like 3k instead? We’ll find out soon enough XD

As some of you may have picked up from things I’ve reblogged, I’m Jewish, so when the Lady says “May the Light be with you” and Jester replies with “And also with you” which makes everyone crack up, I did NOT get it all.  I get it now.

@suicidallyreckless

[breakupspells18]

Spells to breakup a couple

To breakup a couple

Throughout everyday life, one is forever discontent with whatever they have. Some of the time you are with somebody and you don't feel it's acceptable however unexpectedly when you separate you understand that you need a similar individual back. In any case, at that point what occurs next that individual is as of now comparable to somebody and is glad that way. Hence around there, you need to go for a spell to separate a couple quickly. This will tackle your concern as that individual will separate and afterward you can get your sweetheart back. So spells to separate a couple quick are very regular in the present time 

Spell to separate a couple quick as an assistance is a decent alternative to get your joy. What really happens is here and there individuals need their accomplice back who is with another person or they are disturbed in the relationship they are in but rather they can't break it like this. So playing out the spell to separate a couple quick can be a guide to them around then. It will assist them with understanding why they should have been isolated from the individual and they can have a cheerful life. there are various specialists who can direct you for something very similar and you can achieve their administration however prior to picking a guide you should pay special mind to his attributes, the sort of deeds or serenades he really offers individuals to do and what experience he holds in the field. When you comprehend among the parcel that who is the one which can manage you through the way of playing out the spell then here you go. Your answer for the issue is there. Indeed, even the correct master will control you with its results and mention to you what can anyone do when so the impact of the spell is greatest. 

Two or three spells with lemon 

To see the genuine wizardry on how a couple can get isolated, you simply need to do a seemingly insignificant detail. For the equivalent, all you require is lemon, vinegar, paper, pen, blade and dark pepper. Firsts thing what you need to do is take up a paper and compose both the names on it. Do remember that there is a hole between the names so you can without much of a stretch cut them out and discrete. Presently pour drops of vinegar on both the paper and afterward sprinkle dark pepper on both of it. When it evaporates now you need to take a lemon and cut it into two sections. As you need the relationship to get acrid, so combine the papers and afterward put between the two parts of lemon. With this lemon will join, holding the paper. Presently freeze it for a day in the refrigerator. At that point toss it and inside couple of days you will see the outcome. This spell will help you experience the separation you really needed to occur. In the wake of doing this spell the couple will not be together again whatever may be the outcome. They will be separated. 

Spells to separate a relationship 

Separating a relationship when you are worn out or disappointed of it very well may be done easyly. You should simply counsel a specialist and serenade a mantra or play out the custom which is guided to you at the ideal time and day. In the wake of doing that you will doubtlessly see the adjustment of your life. So here is a spell which can help you separation. It is simple but then lasting. All you need is lemon pregnant market and blade. You will take a paper and compose the names of both individuals who are in connection. Presently put it in the middle of the lemon and say lemon down, lemon up, I need a perpetual separation. Serenade this mantra for multiple times and afterward toss both the lemons in inverse ways. You are finished with the spell. Inside a couple of days, you will see that the couple has isolated and whatever they may go for they never would be together. So whenever you are finished with this don't say negative regarding it or the impact will diminish up. While performing likewise does it with full confidence so you get speedy outcomes that too with the best impacts. 

fast separation spell administration to separate a couple 

On the off chance that you are searching for fast separation spell here you go. This spell administration is so natural however it is so damn sure that it will separate the couple who have been hitched throughout the previous thirty years perhaps. Hence it's exceptionally viable. For this, all you need is lemon, blade, pen, dark salt and afterward fixation. In this way, regardless, take a paper and compose the name of one accomplice on one side and other on the opposite side. After that cut the lemon with a blade into two pieces. Subsequent to doing this u need to place the paper in and say couples head out in a different direction as I discard the lemon you need to recite this mantra multiple times with full focus. Whenever you are finished with it currently put dark salt in it, presently rub them appropriately and toss them on various parts by isolating. Subsequent to doing this spell you will see that couples get isolated just without having any large issue. It would happen rapidly and would be a perpetual one. So be extremely cautious when you do this as it won't ever get them back how enthusiastically you pursue it again. 

a few spells that work quick 

For the couple to separate there should be an explanation and if there is no explanation than a separation spell is required. So to say a final farewell to somebody you would prefer not to be here is a straightforward separation spell. All you need is a container, some measure of oil, some measure of vinegar, picture the couple, red crisp and dark light. Regardless, first, you will snap the photo of the couple and put one bean stew on every last one of it. Presently join the photographs from the back with cold over it and begin collapsing once. At the point when you do it, at that point one photograph will cover the other one and cold would be in the middle. When you make it like a paper move presently put in a container. In the container currently gather oil and vinegar into a single unit so that the photographs are plunging in it. Whenever you have done this, presently take a dark candle and consume it before them. Presently you should simply play the container and candle confronting each other in a dim room. There ought to be no light in it. Save it for quite a long time and you will see that several isolates as the fire of the candle goes off and the wax dissolves. 

separation spell to separate my beau with another lady 

There is a typical issue these days that your beau is undermining you or he is dating another lady for the sake of entertainment and isn't not kidding with you. So in that setting here is a straightforward spell which you can perform. To do that all you need is some salt. Presently take a table and spread a medium-sized thick material sheet on it. After that put some salt really sprinkle it and afterward say White salt, free-running salt, help ( name of the individual ) drop out of adoration ( other accomplice's name). Try not to allow them to live in harmony. Allow battles to enter their relationship, let separation be there companion. So be it. Say this spell for multiple times and you are not to contact the salt for ten hours. Next morning take up the salt and spread it on the doorstep of the young lady saying It isn't salt that I am dissipating preposterous wrecker however separation. I'm helping God's worker ( Name of the kid) drop out of affection with God's worker ( name of the young lady). So be it. Rehash this spell multiple times and return home. There would be a moment impact of the spell. 

separation spell to separate a couple and carry him to me 

Presently this is another spell to get your accomplice back for whom you have been wanting for long. All you need is nectar or possibly sugar, red pencil or pen, paper, one red flame, one image of that individual. In the first place, the spell, light the flame and ruminate. Envision you and him together. Presently on the piece of paper compose your and his name. Presently pour drops of nectar on both the name. After this you need to recite the spell which says with the spell you return, to seal your spirit with mine. I summon the force of wizardry, to overcome ( name of the accomplice) once more. Return to me. Disregard the past from here on out. Everything will be love and enthusiasm between the two of us. Presently break the paper into pieces. Burry the entirety of the paper pieces independently. You will see the enchantment. One thing you must be cautious is that keep quiet. No one should think about it and yes do it with your entire being and trust. Try not to get restless for the outcomes as some of the time the universe requires some investment. 

what amount of time will it require to separate a couple? 

To separate a couple the occasions can change. It really relies on the spell you have performed. So whosoever master is managing you for the equivalent, the person will as of now educate you concerning the time cycle which will be there for the equivalent. So do it with confidence. 

What information do I need to offer to reprieve up a couple 

To give a separation to a couple there are sure things which you generally need. That could be the image of the couple, date of birth, complete names, where they live, from how long they are together, perhaps a portion of their having a place, etc. The master may ask you out of this anything to play out the custom. 

step by step instructions to a few quick spells 

To play out any quick spell you need to take the direction of a specialist. The salt spell, lemon spell there are part more which have moment results you need to see the circumstance and afterward hang tight for the outcome. There is persistence which is needed for the spell with the goal that it very well may be finished. 

how would I put a spell, one somebody, to separate a relationship 

To put a spell on somebody for the separation is basic by playing out the custom or reciting the mantra. It is simple and you can accomplish the ideal outcome. All you need is confidence and focus and afterward it's totally done. At the point when you are sure about a thing it happens excessively fast. 

step by step instructions to separate a couple with an adoration spell 

To separate a couple with an adoration spell, you can take a lemon put the name of the individual in it independently and afterward serenade your supplications for their separation. After that toss the lemon a different way and there you go you will have the correct outcome which will fulfill you. 

end 

Along these lines spell to separate a couple quick are there is an incredible number. The correct master can assist you with performing it in a legitimate way. You can undoubtedly complete it for somebody you don't need in your life or for the one whom you need to get back in your life. Spells assist you with accomplishing the bliss you have needed for and that is the thing that a definitive point of your life is. The spell will get

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 1

Word Count: 3,296

POV: Starts with Reader and switchs to Crosby

Warning: Language

Notes: Ok so I’ve wanted to do a Crosby series for awhile and this idea has been stuck in my head. I’m not sure how long this series will be, kind of just seeing where it will go. Hopefully you’ll all stick around and see where this goes.

READER POV

It was September of 2015, that was the first time Sidney Crosby met the woman who would change his life; only he didn’t know that then. He first saw you at Marc-Andre’s house, when you were standing there talking to Flower’s wife, Veronique. He didn’t know that a chance encounter at the same salon had led to you and Vero becoming best friends. What he did know was that you had to be one of the most beautiful women he ever saw.

You were wearing a pair of white shorts with a navy peplum off the shoulder top. To Sidney, you looked gorgeous, cute and casual; not really trying too hard knowing you were at a party with a room of NHL players. He could already see all the young single guys on the team sniffing around you. He couldn’t really blame them, considering where his thoughts had drifted the moment, he laid eyes on you. Wanting to know more about you, he made the decision to introduce himself. “Great party Vero, thanks for having everyone here before the season gets underway.”

“Yeah sure, it really wasn’t anything. Marc-Andre and I were glad to do it.” Sid shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he waited for his friend to make an introduction to you. Veronique finally took pity on him after a minute or two. “So Sid, this is my friend (Y/N). (Y/N) this is Sidney Crosby.”

You held out your hand to him, and he took. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Sidney…or Sid…I mean everyone calls me Sid…so if you want…” You hadn’t really intended to say his name, and it seemed like he just realized that as a small blush crept up his cheeks.

“Well, Sid it is, then.” And then you added, just to put him at ease. “Everyone calls me (Y/NickN), so feel free.”

  That comment seemed to put him a little bit more at ease. “So how do you and V know each other?” You proceeded to tell him how you and Vero met at the salon and bonded over the same Starbucks order. When she found out you were in marketing, she asked to pick your brain for her children’s clothing line, she was starting with Catherine Letang. The three of you became fast friends, going to brunches and dinners; so it was natural when they invited you to this pre-season get together. The conversation with Sidney was so natural neither one of you noticed that Veronique had left the two of you alone. Sid talked a lot about hockey, but you really weren’t surprised, as the face of the NHL and one of Pittsburgh’s premier athletes; you expected as much. What you were surprised about was when he switched the topic of conversation to history. It was as if he knew you were a history buff.

You found yourself talking about your last trip to Europe, where you tried to take in as many historical sites as you could, and Sid chimed in with some of his favorite places. It wasn’t until both of you had an empty glass that you realized you’d passed the last couple of hours just chatting essentially about nothing with Sidney Crosby.

“So, can I get you another drink?” He asked staring at your empty wine glass.

“Yes, please.” He took the glass and headed inside the house.

Catherine was the first one to sneak over to your side. “Looks like you and Sid are hitting it off.”

“Oh stop. We’re just talking is all.” Grant it, it was probably one of the best conversations you’d had with a guy in a long time. “I mean…well, he’s Sidney Crosby and I’m just…well, I’m just me.”

“Oh my god (Y/N), you have no idea how absolutely great you are, and Sid would be lucky to be with you.”

“That’s sweet of you to say, but I’m not going to get my hopes up. It’s literally one conversation.”

“Fine, but don’t mind me if I give it a little nudge in the right direction.” Catherine raised her eyebrows as Sid came back with the wine.

“So where were we, was it Rome, Paris or London?” You smiled at his cute little joke, as the two of you continued talking. By the end of the night, you felt like you were floating on cloud nine. He walked you to your car, but never really made a move; which was both sweet and confusing at the same time.

By the time you made it home, you convinced yourself that the whole night really didn’t exist. This was only confirmed when you didn’t hear from him the following week, not that you really expected him to call, but it set the tone for next time you saw him. Which ended up being after the first home game of the season when everyone went out to celebrate the win. You’d ended up at the game with Veronique and Catherine, so it was only natural when you went out to the bar with them afterward.

Sid was casual and maintained a safe distance around you. It felt kind of weird after the great evening you’d had before, but if that’s the way he wanted to play it, so be it; you were not one to go chasing after someone that didn’t want you. So, you spent most of the evening talking and laughing with Beau. And so went most of the season. You’d basically become an honorary wag, just without being a wife or a girlfriend of a player. You were at most home games and ended up going to several events that involved the team. Each time, Sid was polite, but things never went back to the way they were the first night that you met.

As the season went on, you got a behind the scenes look at what it was like to either be married to or dating a player and if you were being honest; you were glad things with Sidney hadn’t progressed. It was stressful and you saw what a toll the long road trips and constant on the go schedule took on relationships. It wasn’t until later in the season though, that you truly saw how difficult being a significant other could be. Marc-Andre had gone down, after taking a puck the helmet. Everyone in the arena could tell something wasn’t right, and as you saw him get help skating off the ice Vero grabbed your hand for support. There was no news, no one went running down to the tunnel to see what was going on and no one called to say what had happened. You literally just sat there telling your friend that things would be fine. It wasn’t until after the game was over that you found out he had suffered a concussion and was being taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Since it was his second of the season, the Pens were taking every precaution possible with their star goalie. The question in your brain though, was why someone hadn’t told his wife that.

A week later when you, Vero and Catherine were having dinner you questioned them about it. The answer coming back that it’s just the way things work. “Well, I think that’s stupid. They should have a person that keeps in contact with you guys and lets you know what’s going on. I mean what happens if it’s at practice do you get a call then?”

“Not usually, unless it’s from one of the other guys.”

“See that’s just messed up. There should be someone, I don’t know like a…what’s the word I’m looking for?” They both exchanged a confused look with one another as if they had no idea what you meant. “A liaison, that’s it.” To which they stared at you as if you grew three heads. “I don’t mean it like that, like a go-between. Someone that helps with communication and such.”

“I totally agree, but it seems like no one has any time to do that,” Vero told you. “They’re too busy playing the game and working on the injured player to think about us who are sitting there worried sick out of our mind.”

“So, they should create a position. I mean I’ve seen a couple places where the organization is falling short on things and you guys seem to be stepping in.”

“What do you mean?” Catherine asked.

“Well like when the WBS players get called up there’s nowhere for them to go, but a hotel, unless they end up staying with one of you guys. If you had a liaison there, that person could facilitate a place for them to stay and stuff. I mean other than just getting them here. They could do the same for any players that get traded as well.”

You seemed to have both Vero and Catherine sold on this idea. Though for some reason you didn’t think you were selling anything, this was just more like a little rant because you’d seen how upset Vero had been when her husband got hurt. The three of you hashed out all kinds of details about it the entire night. What you didn’t expect was the phone call you received, several days later, from Mario Lemieux’s office asking you to come in. You assumed it was about the position you’d mentioned to Vero and Catherine, but also expected them to be there. However, it was quite evident they weren’t when you finally went to talk to the legendary NHLer.

You’d been introduced to him before at parties, but never truly sat down and had a conversation with the man, and even though you’d met some famous people in your life; you were still a bit intimated meeting Mario. “Have a seat (Y/N), I assume you have an idea why I called you in?”

“Well, I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I would say it has to do with the lack of a position in your organization that I talked about with Veronique and Catherine.”

“Yes, they both called me, as well as their husbands and were quite excited about the prospect of us implementing this into the team. Honestly, I can’t believe we hadn’t thought about it before.” You never expected Mario to say something like that. “When I spoke to my wife about it, she agreed that it would’ve been something that eased her mind when I was playing, especially later in my career. So tell me a bit more about it?”

You then proceeded to highlight some of the situations the girls and you had discussed previously. “It might not be a full-time position, more something that could be distributed out to a couple different people who are already on staff.” You added that part because truly you didn’t know, this was really uncharted waters for you.

“I disagree. I can see this being a very full-time for someone. I would expect them to be at every practice, every game, both home and away, just the way our training staff is. Plus, there would be all the outside interaction as well, like contacting people we’ve just traded and getting them settled; not to mention transitioning the WBS players as you said.” When you looked at it that way, you supposed that the job would definitely be over forty hours a week for whoever took it over. “It’s why I want you to take the position.”

“I’m sorry, what?” You’d heard what he said but you really hadn’t comprehended it.

“This is your idea and a hell of a one at that. You seem to have the vision of it, and I can’t see anyone better to run it.” To say you were flabbergasted was an understatement. Never did you anticipate that this was where your conversation with Mario would go. “Obviously, there will be kinks that need to be worked out, and who better to iron them, then you.” You simply nodded your head, still digesting the whole idea. “You already have a great rapport with the team and their significant others, so there’s already a trust level there. Which is something I feel the job would need.” You had to agree about that factor, though you hadn't thought about it until he brought it up. “I’m not saying this a lifetime position, but it’s definitely something I want to try for at least the next year or more. So, what do you say are you in?”

Were you? Part of you was dying to take the job, it would be something so completely different than what you were doing now, but then your current job paid you pretty well so you weren’t ready to give that lifestyle up for the unknown. Mario must have seen your hesitance. “Look, I’m going to make it worth your while.” He scribbled down a figure, sliding the piece of paper over to you. You couldn’t hide your reaction when you saw the amount scratched out on the paper. It was definitely more than you were making now, but there was still that unknown factor of where you would be in a year.

Weighing the options out in your mind, you decided that this was a once in a lifetime chance. You held your hand out to Mario, saying, “It looks like you’ve got yourself a new staff member, Mr. Lemieux.”

“Welcome aboard (Y/N) and from now on it’s Mario.” Later, after you went over the details of when you would start, which you both decided would be after you left your current job; you walked out of the office looking forward to what new adventures lay ahead, for you had an idea it was going to be very interesting.

  SID’S POV

After that first night that you’d met (Y/N), you literally couldn’t get her out of your head. She was the last thing you thought about that night and the first thing that came to your mind when you woke up. Maybe it was how incredible she looked last night or the way she carried on a conversation with such passion, but you couldn’t seem to get her out of your brain. It was the reason you were late for practice, as you found yourself lying in bed just a little bit longer daydreaming of when you would talk to her again.

All through drills, you couldn’t get her off your mind. Wondering when you should call her; was today too soon? What you didn’t notice was that you’d missed half your shots, made extremely sloppy passes during the powerplay drill and practically had a puck hit you in the head as you were thinking of all these things. Geno, finally skated up to you, tapping your helmet with his stick. “Earth to Sid. Where you at today?”

“Sorry, Geno. Guess my mind really isn’t in the game today.”

“Well, you better get it together. Season is starting soon.” Geno was right, if (Y/N) could occupy your thoughts after one conversation, what would happen after one date, and if you were worse after one date, what would happen if you were actually in a relationship. It was that thought that convinced you not to call her. There would be time for relationships when hockey was over. So, (Y/N) might be the perfect woman for you, but if it was meant to be she would still be there when your career ended.

Still, it was hard to see her out at the team get-togethers. She’d practically became a member of the group. Of course, you tried to be nice, but you could tell that when you didn’t call her after that first night; she’d taken the hint and kept her distance. Still, it was hard to watch her laugh at something Jake or Schultzy would say. Harder yet to see her touch Beau’s arm in an intimate way.

It may have been killing you inside each time you saw her, but you knew it was better for your career this way. If there was any silver lining to this, it was at least you didn’t have to see her all the time. There were times when she came to the games, dressed all cute in jeans and a sweater, and you wanted nothing more than to take her home with you those nights, but (Y/N) wasn’t the kind of woman you took home for the night and then forgot about. She was too much of a distraction, so you tamped down your lust for her and focused solely on hockey. That was until you walked into the film room and she was standing there with Mario. Seeing her at parties and the bar was expected, but having her invade your work-life caught you off guard. There wasn’t a chance to ask her what she was doing here, as players filtered in and she remained in conversation with Mario.

Once, everyone was settled Coach Sullivan turned things over to the owner. “I know you all know (Y/N), so I’ll save the long introduction, but I’m sure you’re wondering why she’s here.” It was the question foremost in your mind. “I’ve hired her on as the team’s new Personal Players Assistant. I know you’re probably wondering exactly what this position entails, so I’m going to let (Y/N) fill you in on that.”

“Hi guys, I know most of you never thought you’d be seeing me here that’s for sure, and on the other hand, a couple of you may already know about this. This position was brought about because of the lack of communication between the team, players and their significant others when there is an injury. I’m basically going to start off being a liaison or go-between for you guys, along with a bunch of other things, like…” You sat there listening as (Y/N) talked about her new job with the team, though you wouldn’t lie it was hard to pay attention when she looked so damn beautiful. As she spoke, you couldn’t help but watch the way her lips moved and couldn’t help imagining how they would feel on your skin. You closed your eyes in hopes that would make your mind stop wandering, only it served to have other images pop into your head. Thoughts of those lips wrapped around your cock, as she knelt before you looking up from between your lashes, permeated into your brain. Your eyes flew open and it was then that you realized you’d missed half of what she said.

“So on that note, I have these papers here for you guys to fill out and get back to me.” She handed them over to Rusty, and he took one and started passing the rest. “Hopefully, this crazy idea will end up being advantageous for everyone and you won’t get too sick of looking at my mug at every practice and game.” Wait did she just say she was going to be at every practice…and game? Shit, you should’ve been paying attention instead of daydreaming about this woman. “If you guys have any questions, my contact information is on the paper, and my office is just down the hall. I’m looking forward to working with all of you.”

“Thanks (Y/N). I’ll make sure these get back to you.” Coach Sullivan said and then she and Mario slipped out of the room. You stared at the paper in your hand, seeing nothing but (Y/N)’s face staring back at you. How were you going to make it through every day seeing her face, her body? The better question was how were you going to concentrate on hockey with (Y/N) around you? There was only one answer, and that was you were going to have to avoid her at all costs.  

[introvertguide]

High Noon (1952); AFI #27

Our next film up for review is the not-so-standard western, High Noon, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards and took home four trophies for Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Song. Westerns at the time were generally focused on the flawless hero who everybody loves and the citizens that band together to fight the bad guy. The good guys were all good and the bad guys were all bad. This is not the case with current film and it was one of the few Westerns nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing (although these were the awards that the movie did not win). It is a genre film that completely went against type. I really want to continue but I realize that now is the time to go through the plot, so let us first give the warning...

SPOILER ALERT!!! I AM GOING TO SPOIL THE WHOLE MOVIE AND IT IS WELL WORTH SEEING SO DON’T READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU WATCH ON YOUR OWN!!! IT IS ONLY 85 MINUTES LONG SO GIVE IT A CHANCE!!! IT IS VERY WORTH YOUR TIME TO SEE WITHOUT IT BEING SPOILED!!!!

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Remember that the film has a run time of 85 minutes and this is the amount of time that passes in the movie. With this in mind, there will be no “meanwhile” or “while that was happening...” in this review. Everything is shown that matters and assume that time is passing for everyone in town whether or not they are on screen.

Three men meet outside Hadleyville, a small town in the New Mexico Territory, are gathered and ride over to the train station to wait for a train. The scene switches to the retirement and wedding of Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper), newly married to Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), as he kisses his bride and turns in his badge and gun. The happy couple will soon depart for a new life to raise a family and run a store in another town. However, word arrives that Frank Miller, a vicious outlaw whom Kane sent to jail, has been released and will arrive on the noon train. Miller's gang—his younger brother Ben (Sheb Wooley), Jack Colby (Lee Van Cleef), and Jim Pierce (Robert Wilke)—are the three men awaiting his arrival at the train station. It is not directly stated by the three men, but it is clear that Miller intends to exact revenge since Kane put him in jail previously. A glance at the clock shows it is 10:45. This is especially a problem since the new marshal won’t arrive until the next day and Kane doesn’t want to leave the town with no protection.

Amy is a devout Quaker and pacifist so the solution is simple—leave town before Miller arrives. They actually start out in their buggy, but Kane turns around and takes them both back to the jailhouse because Kane insists on facing Miller and his men. "They're making me run", he tells her. "I've never run from anybody before." At this point, it is assumed that Kane will get his deputies and form a posse to face Miller. He is the beloved retiring lawman and the town had banded together before to put the man in jail in the first place. Amy gives Kane an ultimatum saying she is leaving on the noon train whether he joins her or not. Kane says he has to stay so they basically split up literally minutes after being married by the Justice of the Peace. 

Kane finds one man that immediately volunteers and then goes to the deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges). Pell won’t help unless Kane puts in a good word and actually quits because he believes that Kane didn’t promote him to Marshall because of some old grudge over a woman. Kane denies even knowing about the relationship and Pell turns in his star and quits. Another person that Kane thought would help is Judge Percy Mettrick (Otto Kruger), who he finds packing up to get out of town because he doesn’t believe he will survive. The judge is the one who actually sentenced Miller, and believes the outlaw will want him dead.

Further dialogue reveals that Will Kane had stolen the lover of Frank Miller, a Mexican women named Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), and this was what prompted Miller to go wild and convinced the town to have him arrested. Kane is no longer with Ramirez and was not aware that she had been sleeping with the deputy. All together, it seems like Kane is not that great of a guy and that Miller has a legitimate grudge with him. The whole town knows this and some of them want Miller to kill Kane, so nobody will help him and he is again encouraged to leave. One friend named Sam Fuller hides in his house and has his wife cover for him. The old marshal is played by freaking Lon Chaney and he won’t help because he notes that members of law enforcement die and nobody really cares. Nobody at the church will help and even the one guy who volunteered backs out because he realizes it will be a slaughter. The only person who openly offers to help is a young boy, but Kane rejects that help and tells the boy to go home.

All this happens and is taking up the time before the noon train. Helen realizes that one of the men she loved will die and the lack of town support upsets her. Amy goes up to meet Helen and the two decide that they will go on the noon train together. Ramirez says she would stay with Kane and not abandon him, but Amy tells her own story of tragedy (she watched her father and brother die in a shoot out). 

Deputy Pell again expresses his anger at not being named the new marshal and so he corners Kane in the horse stables and demands that he be made made the marshal and Kane ride out of town. Their conversation becomes an argument, and then a fist fight. Kane finally knocks his former deputy senseless. Forlorn, Kane returns to his office to write out his will as the clock hits high noon.

Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) arrives on the noon train and his group of men are waiting for him with a gun belt. Helen and Amy get on the train as the outlaws ride into town. There is a very famous overhead shot which shows Kane all alone in the streets with a genuine look of fear, assuming that all of his friends have deserted him and he is about to die. The gang walks into town and starts shooting at Kane, which Amy hears from the train and she decides to go back and help. Kane is able to gun down Ben Miller and Colby but is wounded and hides in the stable. He escapes by hanging on to a fleeing horse but is again cornered by the outlaws at the jailhouse. Amy runs into town and takes a gun from one of the bodies and hides. She is able to sneak up and shoot Pierce from behind. Frank Miller sees this and takes her hostage to call out Kane. The marshal comes out and Amy scratches at Miller to let her go and Kane gets the opportunity to gun down Frank Miller.

Kane helps his bride to her feet and they embrace. As the townspeople emerge and cluster around him, Kane throws his marshal's star in the dirt, glares at the crowd, and departs with Amy on their wagon.

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I keep harping on about how this was not like any standard western of the time and I should probably explain more clearly now that the plot is known. Movies at the time focused on the American marshal as a pseudo superhero. They were honest and always on the side of good, they could ride horses and outshoot any outlaw, everybody loved them except bad guys, and women swooned in their wake. They also tended to be ruggedly handsome, tough as nails, and fearless. The antagonist, on the other hand, was completely wrong and had bad moral character. These bad guys mistreated women, disobeyed the law on purpose, stole, robbed, cheated, and had ugly scars. They traveled in groups in an attempt to intimidate people, but they were no match for the single good guy. But this movie changed everything.

An old marshal who just retired to marry a much younger woman sticks around town to fight a man whom he convicted to die. This villain had an issue with the old marshal because the lawman had stolen his woman. The deputy won’t stand with the retired marshal after being passed over for the job opening and many of the town members won’t help because they think the marshal should leave and let the new marshal deal with the problem. The marshal is scared and alone when he takes on the villains and it is his young bride who actually comes to his aid while he cowers in the jailhouse. At the end, the marshal throws his star on the ground and leaves without saying anything else. 

All members of the cast need to be commend on acting against character type because the general sense of fear at what was coming explained the realistic choice of most of the town running away. It is almost comical when all of the villains are dead and the entire town comes pouring into the streets and it is obvious that there were more than enough men to make a posse and easily protect the town. But the only person that came to help when it counted was a female 20-year-old pacifist Quaker. 

It has been noted by directors and film critics that this was not a very strong performance by Grace Kelly, especially when next to veteran Mexican actress Katy Jurado. Alfred Hitchcock later noted that she played a very meek part for such a strong role, but saw something in her (likely her blond hair and good looks) and gave her a much more fitting part when he cast her for Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief. 

I could not find the film on any of the subscription services when I was looking to watch it so I had the DVD shipped through Netflix. This is a good way to go because I got to watch some DVD extras and learned that everybody and their dad was attached to the making of this film. The cinematographer was Floyd Crosby, the father of rock/folk singer David Crosby. The Deputy was played by Lloyd Bridges, who had two young children on set, Beau and Jeff Bridges. According to the extras, Beau was actually in the barn loft watching during the fight between Kane and his deputy. The singer of the theme song was country musician Tex Ritter, father of actor John Ritter. A very rich history of Hollywood royalty in this single movie.

Many of the actors and writers involved in the film were concerned that they were going to get black listed for being part of this production. It was the early 50s and the Red Scare was at its height in the United States. Many actors and screenwriters were being publicly prosecuted for committing acts against America, and any movie that did not actively promote patriotism was in danger of being accused of being communist. It was a bad time for Westerns that were innovative or went against the norm, which partially explains complaints that many films in the genre during the 50s were the same. This film that depicted a lawman sticking to what he believed in and finding all his friends shunning him was interpreted by some as promoting communism or attacking McCarthyism. Director Zinnemann did say he had all this on his mind during the filming and would consider it an allegory for the Hollywood blacklisting, but that was not necessarily the point from the start.

So should this movie be on the AFI 100? Absolutely! It is part of the most American of genres at a focal point in the country’s history, yet flies in the face of all the standards of that genre. Despite this, it still was nominated for a bunch of awards and highly acclaimed by liberal and conservative leaning viewers alike. The movie is full of Old Hollywood greatness as far as the stars and the crew. The AFI list was created for innovative Americana like this. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Just the innovate shots and the use of real time alone makes for a great watch. The story is great and the acting is great. There are few movies on the AFI list with pacing this good and it is a very easy film to watch and enjoy. Highly recommend.

[potatoesandsunshine]

Campaign 2 Wrap Up: Anna Potatoesandsunshine Edition

Seemed like it would be fun to go through all the fan content I made for this campaign and try to find at least one thing I like about each thing! Kind of like looking back through a photo album. Under the cut because as it turns out, I wrote kind of a lot! (As in, 21 fics and 3 playlists kind of a lot!)

the sea, once it casts its spell (fjord speculation, what’s up with all this ocean stuff?? the fic)

The first thing I wrote for c2, wayyy in the beginning of things. We had no idea about Uk’otoa or Avantika or anyone at this point, it was pure ocean vibes for my favorite warlock. I really like how hard I leaned in on the “the ocean follows Fjord to land” idea.

so many things will fill my life (but only one will do) (post-campaign cali/jester fluff, written the night of the cali episode and so sweet it could rot your teeth)

This one is just good. I just did good with this one. I’m one of those people who hates their own work the night of posting and then when looking back at it goes, “Wow, this is great.” My favorite thing is the little gifts sent along with the letters! Cali was so fun and cute :)

when the dust does roam (Beau study up to Episode 42, 2k words of Beau poking at the idea of grief)

Best thing I did in this fic was have Caleb-through-Frumpkin bugging Beau about getting some sleep. They really... they’re siblings, your honor. 

“  “Fuck off, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Beau picks the bird up and sets him in the hood of her own cloak, out of reach of any weasels or startled monks in the morning. It’d suck to have to tell Caleb that his Frumpkin got eaten by Sprinkle.” C’mon guys, let’s do the sibling dance.

keep your swords out by your sides (the idea for this was, What If Fjord Has Nightmares From Uk’otoa Every Night and just doesn’t remember them)

Assigning everybody a word Uk’otoa had said for each nightmare in this was a challenge; I went into it knowing I wanted Caleb for Learn and Caduceus for Consume and had to guess the rest - for an angry eye snake Uk’otoa didn’t give us a ton of quotes. 

“ He reaches over and runs a hand along the wall of the ship. From his touch, mushrooms begin sprouting.” Caduceus starting to decompose the Mistake in the middle of cooking was maybe the best moment in this story for me. Like, yeah. Yeah. Ok you funky little grave cleric.

strange but not a stranger (Caleb & Jester, in the immediate aftermath of Caleb’s charm in Episode 55)

the first of my “the Mighty Nein won’t have these conversations with each other in canon so they have to be had in fic” ideas that turned into a full-fledged story. I still had not discovered the em dash at this point, so the formatting of this makes me cringe a little bit, but this fic was really about The Emotions Of Being Out Of Control which turned out to be a very big Thing for the Mighty Nein.

now this story was when swords were humble (fake academia mixed with a Yasha study)

Honestly I’m still obsessed with the AU I made here where Yasha was just awakening every sword she used without knowing it?? Why did I use that here only?? That might come back. But the best part about this fic is the citations; me at my most in-joke and ridiculous.

through the teeth of this tempest (Written in the immediate aftermath of Episode 69, Yasha internally trying to break Obann’s control over the course of a month.)

The most “I wrote this to cope with canon” fic out of all of them. I was crying writing this, I was so upset that Yasha was gone ugh just remembering it. Still waiting for past me to discover the em dash, I genuinely don’t know why I didn’t know how to do it and I’ve thought about going back and editing all of these but I’m just Not Gonna Do All That. Anyway, I really like how Yasha catches lightning with her sword in this. We all really manifested that happening.

nothing more than what the losers settle for (Time travel, a series of oneshots where each member of the m9 sans Caduceus went back to a different point in the timeline and murdered Trent Ikithon)

This was my longest fic for c2, so I’m mostly just glad it got finished. This happened somewhere around the time Matt released that set of notes that mentioned Trent in more detail and I hated him so much I just had to write him dying six times. That speaks for itself.

Revolutionary!Fjord was also a good turn. He could pull it off, I think.

we’re gonna show ‘em a thing, or two, or three (Jester growing up fluff!)

I really like how I did Jester & Artagan in this, even though he barely appears. Someone better at songwriting than me please write the Dragon Song. Em dash makes an appearance here but the formatting is still wrong. I Am Once Again Asking For Proper Use Of The Em Dash.

the best things (happen while you’re dancing) (Mid-Episode 97 Divergence, Jester taking the reins at the party + hints of jester/beau/yasha bc i still love my girls so much)

Jester’s a little out of character in this, but not wildly so, and it was for the purposes of a Trapped By Societal Convention plot that I wanted her to mastermind so I think it was fine in the end. I’m still fascinated by the way she unbalanced Ludinus Da’leth in basically every interaction they had, and while their scene feels pretty cliche in this... the cliches are there for a reason. They’re so fun to write.

Em dash my beloved, there you are.

plus thirty-one varieties of sacramental wine (The Galavant crossover that truly nobody asked for, Beau + the monks)

Yeah, this one’s just fun. Not much more to say about it. Critical Role and Galavant are both fantasy, but they’re honestly pretty different in tone, and it was fun to write Beau dropped into a comedy musical.

oh we were sea-bound and aimless at best (Purely angst, a What If The Fjord & Orly Resurrections Didn’t Work fic)

Made myself care about Marius with this one, y’all. What more can I say? Beau having to go from first mate to captain was just... deliciously painful, because she would.

lost my shape trying to act casual (Beau & Yasha during travelercon, another mid-episode fic, this time of 104)

Yasha comforting Beau, who feels guilty for not feeling guilty... That Mighty Nein wasn’t lying, Mind Control and Autonomy can be themes. Another in the  “the Mighty Nein won’t have these conversations with each other in canon so they have to be had in fic” tank. They really just... didn’t open up to each other for a long time, which made sense, but I wanted them to.

so long as you don’t mind a little dying (Beau & Caduceus, sometime in the peace talks arc)

Keeping with the Mighty Nein Please Talk To Each Other theme, I feel like I did a pretty good job with the late-night conversation energy of this fic. This was at a time when I was looking at Caduceus, can opener in hand, ready to make this firbolg open up about his feelings. Beau in this is prickly and confrontational but only in service of her friend’s well-being.

amber light, bending (Eiselcross speculation, Widofjord and all the messiness therein)

THE widofjord fic of my two widofjord fics. The blueprint. The better one. Finally I got the dynamic figured out. I maintain that the tower is an absolute expression of Caleb’s love for his friends. The way that neither of them have the braincell in this fic... yeah this one is just good.

and a blade between them (Widofjord happening... sometime.)

Okay so this is not as good as amber light and I will never be able to look at it and like it as much, but it was still fun to write. Anyway, the intimacy of shaving someone else. That is good. The tag “if they didn’t want me to think about the blood pact they shouldn’t have made the blood pact” is the most useful takeaway from this fic and is the driving force behind the Fjord/Jester/Caleb fic I’m working on now, so it wasn’t a waste of time or anything.

feel the ground beneath my feet turn into the sky (Post-Campaign Astrid-retires-to-Nicodranas, Astrid/Jester)

This is another one where I’m like “Yeah, this is just good.” Packed full of Wizard Fashion, Artagan making an appearance to rope Astrid into having a happier future, and the power of Going To The Seaside. Good for you, fic-Astrid.

spend your days biting your own neck (Role-reversal where Beau is the one mind-controlled this time and Yasha is the one chasing after her, set very early in the Tomb Takers arc)

So much of this fic is about not saying things aloud - Beau’s POV spends a good chunk on body language and Yasha writes multiple letters on paper and in her own head - but devotion bleeding through anyway because there’s nowhere else for it to go. The two of them go tumbling over a cliff together at the end but Yasha has wings, ugh. Yeah this was a good one.

and blow the dry leaves from the tree (Somewhere before the beauyasha date but otherwise timeline-nonspecific Nicodranas, Yasha & Yeza become friends)

Yasha & Yeza making pancakes together when neither of them know how to do so... is good. This fic is very much about grief sneaking in, but it’s even more about finding someone to share the moment with you. I think these two have more in common than we think.

oh, lend a mending hand (Caleb & Caduceus during Beau’s tombstone meditation in Episode 130)

I wrote this entire fic as an excuse for Caleb and Caduceus to hug and it does what it says on the tin. Got em.

it’s about the passing of measures (Beauyasha at the end of Episode 134, Aeor speculation)

This fic got extremely sidetracked because I rediscovered the marble machine during it and I do not apologize for that. I still really like the idea that Aeor as a whole, not just the Cognouza, is somewhat-alive. Too much magic and too much death for it to be anything else, in my mind. And I’m a sap for hurt/comfort.

the blumentrio playlist nobody asked for

If I think too much about how deep in each other these three people are I will cry. Made myself a soundtrack for those tears. 

the caleb playlist nobody asked for

what if this angsty wizard had a playlist of songs that mostly just... make me want to dance? that question was answered here.

the caduceus playlist nobody asked for

songs about home, leaving home, dying, changing, becoming someone new, coming home and finding it’s changed... this to me is caduceus.

yeah... this campaign has been fun!! I probably won’t stop making things about it; I still write about Vox Machina, for crying out loud, but... it feels good to lay it all out like this. It’s been a long few years, and it’s wild to be seeing the end of it now.

[dragonkeeper19600]

What is the Medicine Seller?

The subjectivity of Mononoke is a large part of what makes the series unique. But, one of the biggest mysteries that the show leaves unanswered is what exactly the Medicine Seller is supposed to be. From his weird powers, traits, and appearance to the fact that he clearly doesn’t age, it’s an understatement to say that this isn’t a normal guy. All kinds of theories have been floating around about the Medicine Seller’s true identity, that he’s a onmyōji, a god, or some kind of benevolent mononoke. 

However, for my money, looking at all the evidence combined from the show and Japanese mythology, I’ve concluded that the Medicine Seller is most likely a kitsune. 

Now, I feel like most anime viewers have at least a cursory idea what a kitsune is, but just to recap: “Kitsune” (狐) is the Japanese word for fox. Traditional Japanese folk beliefs attributed all sorts of mysterious powers to foxes, including shapeshifting, creating illusions, and warding off evil spirits. Taking cues from ancient Chinese lore about fox spirits, kitsune have captured the imagination of Japanese artists and storytellers for centuries and continue to do so in the present day.

I’m far from the first person to come up with the “Medicine Seller is a fox” theory. It’s the only theory cited on the admittedly bare-bones Mononoke Wiki, and numerous commentators and Tropers have speculated that our favorite flamboyant exorcist might be a fox in disguise. So, allow me to take some time to display all the compiled evidence as to why I think this is the most plausible theory.

Let’s start with the obvious: The guy looks like a fox.

The red markings on his face are very reminiscent of the red paint you see on the traditional kitsune masks people wear around festival time. These markings are highlighted in the anime’s opening, so you can really see the similarity.

His long ears and fangs could also be considered vulpine.

The literature is rife with examples of foxy traits showing through a kitsune’s human disguise, especially when they’re startled or caught off-guard, such as ears, a tail, or canine teeth. We’ve never seen a tail on the Medicine Seller, but who knows what he’s hiding under that robe? I’ve also seen some sources claim that the tail will be revealed if you see the kitsune’s reflection or shadow. We haven’t seen either, so who knows?

Secondly, there’s a hierarchy to keep in mind when thinking about Japanese foxes. Some kitsune are holy messengers while others are malignant spirits that bring ruin to humans. Some are merely pranksters, using their powers to pull hilarious tricks on unwitting humans, sometimes to teach them a lesson but often just for shits and giggles.

Holy, high-ranking foxes are said to be messengers of the Shinto god Inari, the rice god and the patron deity of merchants and sword smiths. 

Pictured: A merchant with a sword.

Fox statues like the one pictured above can be seen standing guard in front of Inari’s shrines, where they are said to ward off evil. The A-to-Z Online Buddhist dictionary has this to say:

“[T]he fox is associated with the concept of Kimon 鬼門, literally “demon gate,” a Japanese term stemming from Chinese geomancy (Ch: feng shui). In Chinese thought, the northeast quarter is considered particularly inauspicious. It is the place where "demons gather and enter." This belief was imported by the Japanese and is referred to as Kimon. Kimon generally means ominous direction, or taboo direction. In Japan, the fox is considered a powerful ally in warding off evil Kimon influences. Fox statues are often placed in northeast locations to stand guard over demonic influence, and two foxes typically guard the entrance to Inari Shrines, one to the left and one to the right of the gate.”

He may not be a statue, but “warding off demonic influences” is basically half of the Medicine Seller’s job description. He often uses seals, salt, prayer, and other methods accessible to humans, but the Bakeneko arc of Ayakashi clearly shows he can keep a mononoke at bay just by flexing really hard. 

Yokai.com goes into some detail about the various ranks of kitsune, from the lowliest trickster to the most divine guardian. One rank of kitsune of particular interest to me is called the Kiko (気狐), a servant of Inari that has evolved to the point where it no longer has a physical form. Many Kiko adopt human disguises, but they have not yet ascended to a heavenly plane and so remain on Earth serving Inari’s will. 

We have never seen the Medicine Seller eat, drink, or sleep. There is, however, one physical need that he does indulge in.

If you get my meaning.

Pictured above is the Medicine Seller’s extensive shunga (春画) collection. Shunga is Edo period porn, and it wasn’t exactly uncommon for merchants to be carrying volumes of shunga on their person. However, 20+ volumes seems a bit excessive to me.

It’s a trait that doesn’t come up all that much in Mononoke, but the first episode of Ayakashi’s Bakeneko arc reveals that the Medicine Seller is a bit of a horny bastard. He trades info on various virility and fertility medications with Kayo, a conversation that involves a lot of whispering into her ear. He was about to share his porn with Kayo before they were interrupted. I’m convinced that if Sato had entered the kitchen ten minutes later, she would have found the two of them fucking on the floor.

As anyone who's watched Naruto can tell you, kitsune are often associated with sex. Inari, among other things, is also a fertility god, and there are many stories of kitsune adopting human form and seducing unwitting mortals, running the full gambit from the horrific to the romantic. A good chunk of these stories involve the kitsune marrying their human beau and even bearing his children in some cases. 

Most stories of this nature center on female kitsune, but it’s not like male kitsune don’t exist. The popularity of sexy fox women can probably be chalked up to male-dominated Edo society, but more and more male kitsune have been sighted in modern anime.

I believe we can add Mononoke to this number. Practically every woman in the series creams their pants at the mere sight of the Medicine Seller, and it doesn’t seem that their attraction is one-sided. The Medicine Seller has all kinds of sexual tension with Kayo in both series. And, if you look closely, you can spy some romantic tension with Ochou as well. There’s little doubt that the Medicine Seller is attracted to human women and is even capable of falling in love with them. However, due to his role slaying mononoke, it is unlikely that he can ever settle down and marry one the way many other kitsune do.

Personality-wise, the Medicine Seller is also reminiscent of a fox. Like I mentioned above, kitsune are often tricksters by nature. Although the Medicine Seller never acts in a needlessly malicious way, he does like to dick around with people. A lot of the aforementioned tension with Kayo takes the form of teasing banter. 

Keep in mind: It wasn’t him who changed the compass. Which means he’s being vague for no other reason except to mess with Kayo.

He also spend a good portion of his arc in Ayakashi trolling the Sakai household, especially Odajima. And do we even need to mention his gambit in the Nue arc? 

So, his appearance, relationships, and personality are all decidedly fox-like. What about his powers? Well, in the Nopperabou arc, we get a pretty clear hint that the Medicine Seller’s physical form is just an illusion.

The Masked Man’s attempt to take away the Medicine Seller’s face failed because that wasn’t his real face. He outright compared his face to a facade. Since it was just an illusion, it was easy for him to change it back. It should also be noted that the Nopperabou, the faceless ghost, often appears not as an independent spirit but a hilarious prank that other yokai like to pull on humans. Tanuki, Manji (badger spirits), and, yes, even Kitsune have used the image of a faceless human being to scare humans. This is getting into fan wank territory itself, but it is entirely possible that the Medicine Seller is all too familiar with the art of face removal, having pulled that trick himself in his younger days.

That the Medicine Seller’s body isn’t real could also explain the nature of his Other Self. During his first transformation sequence in Ayakashi (which is repeated in the Nue arc), we see the markings on his face and robes disappear.

Before gold markings reappear on his Other Self.

It might be possible to think of this “transformation” as more of a body surf. The flowing markings could indicate the presence of the fox spirit as it moves from one body to the other. This is a good time to point out that gold eyes are said to be another common trait of kitsune, and white fur is indicative of an Inari fox. The Other Self’s long white hair may be a hint as to his divine nature. 

Now, with all his powers and religious motifs, is it possible that the Medicine Seller is not a fox but in fact Inari himself? I did briefly contemplate that possibility, but I ultimately decided it probably wasn’t true. The Medicine Seller’s powers have limits that I feel a high-ranking god like Inari wouldn’t have. It looked like he did serious damage to himself trying to hold back the bakeneko in Ayakashi.

Ouchies.

Rather than being a human avatar of Inari, I find it more likely that the Medicine Seller is a kiko carrying out Inari’s will. In his first appearance in Ayakashi, some men spot the Medicine Seller standing outside the Sakai household, apparently talking to himself.

At the beginning of Mononoke’s first episode, he does the same thing outside the inn. His mouth is moving, but we don’t hear what he’s saying.

In both cases, the men who see him try to call out to him to get his attention, and in both cases he ignores them. He never says who he was talking to, and nobody ever asks. It is strange, however, that he always shows up just where a mononoke is going to be, even when he doesn’t seem to know anything about the mononoke before he arrives. Could it be he is actually receiving instructions from Inari? Inari might be telling him where to go, and the Medicine Seller figures out the rest from there. He can’t know about the mononoke’s form, truth, or reason yet, otherwise he’d be able to slay it right away. How else would he know where to go unless he was being told?

Of course, there are other possibility as to who he could be talking to. It could be his Other Self, if you hold the theory that the Medicine Seller and the Other Self are separate entities (which I don’t, so much). I also contemplated whether it was the sword he was talking to, but the sword is in the trunk. For my money, communing with a god seems the most fitting. 

According to Shinto beliefs, foxes can live for up to 1000 years, which would explain why the Medicine Seller is still around after centuries have passed. But, what happens after the millennium is over? At that point, a kitsune sprouts its final, ninth tail and ascends to the heavenly plain, leaving this earth behind. I personally believe that the Medicine Seller has been tasked to wander the earth for 1000 years, slaying mononoke until his time is up. At that point, he’ll become a being as powerful as a god, but until then he must learn to truly understand humanity. Only once he has become thus enlightened will he be able to ascend. 

This, I believe, is why the Sword of Exorcism can only be drawn once he’s learned the mononoke’s form, truth, and reason. He can only slay the mononoke if he comes to truly understand it and sympathize with it. It’s all part of a thousand-year long learning process in addition to aiding humanity.

And once he’s done, some day centuries from now, perhaps another young fox will take up the sword and walk through man’s despair, putting the souls of the anguished to rest. 

It’s a lonely destiny, but it has its perks.

頑張ってね。

[unicyclehippo]

beau + caleb “People are staring.” “Just trust me.”

In a world a step to the left of the one we know, Caleb was never swept into the work of his Master Ikithon, and Beauregard Lionette—eldest child of Thoreau Lionette—was sent not to the Cobalt Reserve but northwards, to the capital. In some ways, the world they inhabit is very similar. In other ways, it is entirely changed.

//

Beauregard—Beau, as she insists on—wears her age awkwardly, all knobbled knees and elbows and neck, like one of those wobbly just-born horses who insist on walking and running and racing an hour after they are born, just because they can. She’s like that too—always running, not walking.

‘Guten morgen, Beau. Did you do your readings?’ he asks her, as he always does. He appreciates the stability of their routine, even if he doesn’t appreciate her answer.

‘Nope.’

‘You must do your readings if you wish to progress in your lessons,’ he says, putting no effort toward convincing her. If she has resisted this long—four tutors, him being the fifth—and a half dozen months, then she has plans of her own that he isn’t privy to, and doesn’t need to be. ‘We can begin in Duroski’s Theories of Combustion, chapter four—if you do not wish to do that, please say it, don’t throw your book at my head.’

‘If I threw it at your head it would’ve hit you,’ she tells him. ‘I threw it over your head.’

Bren lifts his head from its duck. ‘Is there something else you wish to do?’

‘Do you ever get tired of being boring?’

‘No.’

Beau throws her head back. Groans.

Bren doesn’t know who she is, beyond resolutely being the least capable student in Master Vollod’s class, and he doesn’t need to. He is paid whether she learns or not. She turns up to each session, and sits and waits, and sometimes he is sure that he sees a gleam of interest in some of the subjects, and yet she never makes a move to take notes or complete her essays or attempt the magic.

‘Chapter Four,’ he reads aloud, since she makes no move to collect her own text. ‘Combustion—or burning—is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel, called the reductant, and an oxidant—‘

Beau slumps lower in her seat and lets her eyes glaze over as she stares at the ceiling, unseeing and not hearing Bren’s words. It isn’t long before Bren begins to scrawl his own notes into his book, drawing from this basic textbook for his own essay on advanced evocation methods, and if he forgets to read aloud, Beau doesn’t point it out.

//

She doesn’t like magic, he learns after an embarrassingly long time of tutoring her. It isn’t even from a question he has asked her, or a conclusion he came to on his own, but one that he overhears as he makes his way to their table in the Reading Room of Soltryce’s smallest library.

‘—would make some sort of attempt -‘

‘No.’

‘You have the potential to be great!’

‘I have no intention of being great at this shit!’

‘Your family isn’t paying for you to waste your life, your potential,’

‘That’s exactly what he’s doing. I don’t give a fuck what he’s paying—I am never writing so much as a single fucking rune,’ Beau hisses with so much acid on her tongue Bren expects the assistant to melt with it.

‘You’re being a child. He only wants what is best for you,’

Beau laughs, a bitter little laugh. There’s a shift of movement and then a gasp and Bren peeks around the stacks to find Master Vollod’s assistant, Torok—Tammy—T-something—with her hand on Beau, gripping her arm tight. They’re close together, the assistant hissing into Beau’s ear, and the younger girl’s face goes carefully blank.

Bren has talent with fire. He knows how it works, feels a connection to it that he does not feel to the other elements. Adores—in a way, a depth, he does not feel for many things—the warmth of it, adores its constant shift and change, the way it refuses to settle to one space or another. It is wild and grand. Powerful, dangerous, immensely helpful. It is magic, Bren believes. He has studied it in depth for years, and so he does not believe himself mistaken in seeing Beau’s eyes burn at whatever the assistant says to her.

‘Call me that again,’ she says, ‘and I’ll break your face.’ She wrenches her arm from the assistants pinching grip. Takes one step and then another back, before she turns on her heel and walks unerringly to Bren.

He has a moment to wonder if he should pretend he had only now come across her, but Beau looks entirely too knowing so he just says,

‘Guten morgen, Beau.’

‘Ermendrud.’

‘Have you done your—‘

‘No.’

Bren rocks back on his heels, clicks his mind to his next comment since she has moved their pace up. ‘You must do your—‘

‘Can we go outside?’

Bren blinks. That is outside of his experience with Beau, but he also doesn’t see a problem with it. He also doesn’t like the way Beau has grown tense, hands making fists at her sides. He also doesn’t like the way the assistant is watching them.

‘Ja. Ja, of course.’ He sets the textbook into his book bag. Steps out of her way. ‘Lead the way.’

//

‘I do not think this is permissible,’

‘It’s fine, dude, I’ve done it hundreds of times.’

‘That does not mean it is permissible,’ he points out. ‘People are looking—they are staring at you, Beau—‘

‘Trust me. I won’t let you get in trouble, man.’

Despite the way worry scratches at his spine, Bren looks up at her face, her tension slowly relaxing into an expression he doesn’t know of her, and his body moves before his brain can decide to. Bren follows her up onto the crate and the roof of the stable from there, and up onto the sloping tiled roof of the Resident Hall.

‘This is-‘ he pants, clinging to the roof as a slick tile makes one foot slip from beneath him, ‘terrifying.’

She laughs.

Bren thinks it is the first time he has heard her laugh with happiness. It is not pretty the way the court ladies laugh, breathy little things, coy, hidden behind soft hands and fans and other feminine instruments Bren does not understand. Beau’s laughter is harsh and too-loud. Bren doesn’t mind.

‘It’s fun.’

‘Your concept of fun and mine are - oh boy - markedly dissimilar,’ he says a little shakily, still climbing higher to join her, and then a brown hand reaches down for him and another grasps the scruff of his collar and yanks him up to more stable footing. Helps him to sit on the ridge of the roof, red tiles sun-warmed. When he finally feels stable—or at least as though he is not about to fall—he looks across at his student.

‘You do not like magic,’ he says. He’s been thinking about it for the entirety of the climb and before, since overhearing the conversation.

‘...No.’

‘Why are you at the Academy if you do not care for it?’

‘Parents want me here,’ she tells him dully. Her expression is closing down again, and it sends a pang of upset through him.

‘Ah. What - if you wish to tell me - what would you...prefer to be doing?’

Beau squints sideways at him. ‘Why?’

‘I am a curious man.’

‘You’re a weird man.’

Bren frowns. ‘Hey.’

‘What? You’re saying you aren’t?’

He considers his hobbies and passions and the whispers he has heard of others opinions of him. ‘Mm. I think I am.’

‘You definitely are.’

‘I think you are as well. Strange. Not a man.’

Beau flips him off. He thinks about returning the gesture but both hands are solidly placed on the roof and there they shall remain.

‘May I ask another question?’ He waits for her to shrug. ‘If you do not care for magic, why do you continue to attend our sessions?’

‘Had to. Tori threatened to tell my dad if I ditched another tutor.’

Bren feels a frown crumple his own brow. ‘Oh.’

Beau’s eyes cut over to her. She’s very young, still, and hasn’t learned how her face works as the youth strips away from it and she grows into her heavy brows and thin lips and stately nose. Try as she might to hide her sudden apprehension, it still bleeds through.

‘Plus,’ she says, nonchalant, ‘you’re fine. Cool, or whatever.’

‘You just called me weird.’

‘Yeah, but it’s fine. It’s whatever. You’re fine.’

Bren parses it out. Nods. ‘We are friends.’

‘I did not say that.’

[errantinfinity]

head canon corner ; gsod heads and important members

Since people displayed an interest in more important about the GSOD heads, I am here to make a post about it. I was going to make separate posts but then I didn’t want to make too many, so this is instead a master post for the GSOD heads and other important members that I have had ideas for.

This post actually got really long so if you don’t read it I will absolutely not be offended, once I started I just couldn’t stop.

The Six Heads and how they work together.

For the most part, Philip and Arthur are in charge, and any decisions in the end come down to them.

The other four heads were the first four people they invited to join them to help run GSOD. They are invited to any and all meetings about the future of GSOD and also other general operations meetings. All of their opinions are taken into account before any decisions are made, but in the end Philip and Arthur are in charge and the decisions come down to them.

The Six are all friendly with each other and have known each other for many years. Philip and Arthur are the closest, but they all generally get along well, minor disagreements aside.

They are all very well respected in their line of work, and they are well known in the government for being efficient and helpful whenever they are needed to help with anything.

Philip Pullman - ability ; The Amber Spyglass.

One of the men who spear headed the idea of GSOD and got it set up, along with Arthur Conan Doyle.

His ability, when activated, allows him to locate other ability users. It “pings” more the closer he gets to an ability user, allowing him to track them down effectively even in very crowded areas.

A straight forward man, with Philip you will always know where you stand. He is a thoughtful speaker, and a generous boss, and always tells every member of GSOD that they are welcome in his office should they ever need anything.

He and Arthur run the recruitment branch together, but also goes out to help find any ability users that may be eluding capture and are not using their ability to hide from authorities.

Has a large tropical fish tank in his office, and can regularly be seen watching or feeding the fish if he isn’t working.

Arthur Conan Doyle - ability ; A Study In Scarlet.

He and Philip are friends from university, and they came up with the idea for GSOD after leaving.

His ability, when activated, allows him to discern what a person’s ability will allow them to do. It doesn’t strictly let him understand an ability, just the basics of what the ability is capable of. For example, if he used his ability on Kunikida, he’d say that Kunikida is able to pull small objects from a notebook by writing the characters for them. It does not help him to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and limits of an ability.

A shrewd man, Arthur usually knows more than he lets on. Highly intelligent and observant, Arthur can usually be relied upon to decipher body language, facial expressions, and the way things are phrased after meetings with other organisations.

He goes out with Philip and uses his ability to discern what the ability users they find can do. They offer a place at GSOD to any and all ability users, it just helps them to get a better idea of which branch they would be best suited for.

He keeps a large python in his office. When asked the name of the python, Arthur will smile slightly and tell you it is Monty.

Roald Dahl - ability ; Fantastic Mr Fox.

Roald used to run the Policing Aid branch of GSOD, his ability allowing him to be an effective detective in cases where he could blend in. As he got older, however, and as more members had children and there was more call for childcare, Roald asked to step down and run the childcare at the GSOD members building. There is a daycare for younger children, baby sitting services for anyone that wants them, and after school, weekend, and holiday clubs for when parents are working or the kids just want to take part.

His ability, when activated, allows him to transform into a red fox. He does still sometimes use it in the field, where it helps make him inconspicuous, but largely it is used to entertain the children.

Roald adores kids. He can often be found surrounded by an enraptured group of children of all ages, weaving them wondrous stories, or transforming into a fox and allowing them to pet and play with him. He is much better suited to this role and he loves it.

A gentle, caring, and loving man, Roald cares deeply for any of the kids that come through his childcare branch. He invited Zadie Smith, when she arrived at age thirteen, to help teach the kids sign language. He is the person that helped to make her feel the most at home, and he became a father figure to her. They are still very close.

Roald has a pet parrot named Pelly. She can talk, and he often brings her with him to introduce to the kids.

Virginia Woolf - ability ; A Room Of One’s Own.

Virginia, who tells the people she likes to call her Ginny, owns and runs the large building where many GSOD members live.

Her ability, when activated, allows her to create rooms in a building providing that she owns it. (Don’t ask me exactly how this works it just does. Lucy can create a space out of nowhere and Gogol’s coat can manipulate space, it just works sdfsidk.)

Although many think of her as stern, she just runs a tight ship. She wants to ensure the safety and comfort of all the members that stay in the building, and her and her staff work hard to ensure that the building is clean, safe, and well stocked with everything they may need.

She is the only head that rarely sees any fieldwork, because she is most useful in her building, helping to run and maintain it along with her staff.

Despite her generally rather brusque exterior, Ginny is very motherly to those she is close to. She cares deeply, but when in work mode she is very serious and, some would say, a woman you shouldn’t cross.

Angela Carter - ability ; The Magic Toyshop.

Angela is a well respected lawyer, and runs the legal aid branch of GSOD. She does a lot of legal work herself, but also assigns lawyers to different cases. Her branch also offers legal advice, and does both paid and pro bono work. She is a prosecutor herself.

Her ability, when activated, allows her to manipulate toys as she sees fit. Think Toy Story, except she is in control of them rather than them having a mind of their own. She uses this a lot in court to show how crimes may have played out.

A serious and severe woman in the court room, outside of it she is known to be loud, proud, and, by her own words, common. She swears like a sailor, could drink most people under the table, and gets very invested in football.

Angela is very competent, known to be a scary prosecutor for any defendant to go up against. She works very hard, does endless research, and is highly intelligent. It is generally advised not to challenge her to a debate.

Her office is considered deeply creepy by a lot of people. She keeps a lot of toys in it, and has shelves of dolls and stuffed toys. The dolls all sit behind her desk and stare at anyone sat opposite her. Most believe she has done it on purpose to unsettle people (and they’d be right).

Sarah Waters - ability ; Tipping The Velvet.

Sarah runs the combat training for GSOD, and is a hard task master. Her training, she says, could be the difference between life and death, and she works her students hard.

Her ability, when activated, allows her to affect the equilibrium if people in a small area around her. She uses it to help train people to work in unusual and adverse circumstances.

She works very hard, but it is with good reason. Her mother died because she didn’t have the combat training that might have helped her, and so Sarah takes what she does very seriously as a result.

Despite being such a hard task master, Sarah is helpful and kind, and will take time out of help people when they are struggling, often in her own time after or between training.

Sarah is trained in several different martial arts, as well as being gun trained and a good archer. There are few weapons or combat types that Sarah isn’t able to do, and this allows her to help teach others.

She has a big soft spot for cats, and has three of them. They’re called Peaches, Pudding, and Pip, and she is always willing to share pictures of them.

Other important members.

A short list and brief overview of other important GSOD members.

Ursula K. Le Guin - ability ; Those Who Walk Away From Omelas.

Ursula runs the police aid branch of GSOD. She was recruited from America while visiting GSOD from an America organisation. She was very impressed with them, and when Arthur and Philip asked if she’d like to join, she didn’t have to consider her answer long. She took over from Roald when he stepped down, and was personally recommended by him to take his place.

Her ability, when activated, causes people to forget what they are doing and walk away. She uses it to stop people from loitering around crime scenes, car crashes, and other sites where people loiter because that is what they do.

Douglas Adams - ability ; The Babelfish.

Douglas runs the foreign aid branch of GSOD. A somewhat clumsy, very good natured man, he is very funny, quick witted, and eccentric. He is thought of very fondly by all who have met and worked with him.

His ability, when activated, allows him to create an area in which he can manipulate the ability of people to understand languages. It looks a look like Rimbaud’s ability in the anime, except his creates a dome rather than cubes. Douglas enjoys making people in the affected area speak absolute gibberish to each other entirely for his own amusement, although when using it for work he does take it seriously (mostly).

Oscar Wilde - ability ; Picture Of Dorian Gray.

Oscar runs the ability control branch of GSOD. A charming, fashionable Irish man, Oscar likes to look good and likes beautiful things. He is known to collect art and other beautiful items.

His ability, when activated, allows him to transfer injuries her obtains to a portrait of himself. Oscar uses this ability very sparingly, because whenever he uses it, a piece of his soul and humanity is also transferred to the portrait. Oscar is well aware that he will eventually become inhuman, in whatever way that means for him, if he continues using his ability. He uses it when he receives fatal or near fatal injuries in the field, or an injury that would cause him to take a fatal injury such as broken bones.

William Shakespeare - ability ; The Tempest.

William does not run a branch, but is the second in command of Sarah Waters. A flirtatious, romantic man, he is known a lot as Billy Shakes - a joke he started himself - and loves to write poetry and wax lyrical about beautiful people.

His ability, when activated, allows him to create and control violent storms. He uses it largely to help with combat training in a similar way to Sarah - by creating adverse conditions for the GSOD members to train in. He enjoys making heavy rain and snow storms and watching people try to fight their way through them. If you can make it through William’s tests, it is said that there is nothing in the field that could possibly be worse.

[readbythestarlight]

c2e84

Wow, that was a surpassingly normal ad!

Oh boy here we go lore drop!

Therizdune the chained oblivion who is chained at the bottom of the abyss

"He’s basically the boogeyman" if the boogeyman was a HORRIBLE ELDRITCH MONSTER

...IS the boogeyman a horrible eldritch monster?! Oh god.

[[MORE]]

This is great and awful like terrible abyssal eldritch things that can creep into the world through gaps and rifts encourages people to be violent and awful

Also I’m so satisfied that the chains actually ended up being significant

Okay so Yussah knows a guy who we know knows Trent, so... that’s not cool. I mean o totally trust Yussah now it’s not that, it’s just can we trust Ormid?

So not all the Cerberus assembly is bad re: Yussah. But like he’s basically a hermit living in his tower, yeah? Who doesn’t go into the Empire? So like how out of touch is he?

"Trent seems just creepy" that’s putting it mildly

Money? Ball bearings? xD

Oh nice some of the Halas money

Oh Nott honey

Fjord being like "Nott? Caleb please talk to your goblin."

And they’re just all discussing it in the background

NOTT DO NOT

oh boy don’t like that

Oh dear...

"Your FACE is stupid" oh Nott

Lock the gem away somewhere

"You’ll still work at it and try?" Oh honey of course he will

I like how they handled that. They didn’t put Nott down, they gently reminded her that Halas can’t be trusted.

Oh I hope that doesn’t trigger Caleb

And I hope that didn’t just fuck them over with Halas maybe

Cad’s like "can we not?" and then just silencing everyone who keeps trying to talk to him

Y’all need to call your OTHER wizard friend (aka HOTT BOI) to let him know you’re fine and not dead or anything cause this is probably the longest he’s gone without hearing from you

"Everything’s been smoothed over" I wonder if Dairon had anything to do with that

I wonder where she is...

Also this is late cause he said it like ages ago but I love Cad’s little bits of homely wisdom, like the whole holes in a bucket metaphor.

PLATINUMMMMMMM

A WHOLE SATCHEL

TIME TO BUY A KEEP Y’ALL

Kidding I like the xhorhaus

Holy SHIT

21,000 gold??

That puts them at 350 platinum which is like 3,500 apiece NICE

Please def check in with Orli I miss him

I’m gonna insist they all get either matching M9 tattoos or Captain tusktooth tattooes

ORLIIIII

Oh my

Yeah a charisma bump is a good choice Nott xD

YOU ALL BETTER GET MATCHING TATTOOS

"chaos crew" lol

Imagine the stories those "new faces" have heard of the M9 from the older crew

1312 gold not bad!

Fuck y’all I love Orli! I missed him. I hope Fjord retires and goes back to sailing with Orli and the crew someday.

F: "Can I ask, how painful is this... procedure?"

O: "oh-ho-ho! Quite."

Oh lord

B: "Is that infected? Is that infected?!"

O: "No, he’s just a.....................Pansy."

Girls day!

Ohhh I like that idea Nott! Can’t wait to see the new art of that.

I like the start of the idea but the "like the Traveler’s hugging me" is slightly creepy to me. Idk.

BeauJester shippers just got a gift xD

Oh... Molly’s all seeing eye tattoo. My heart. Taliesin looks really touched.

Omg a nat1

Ouch fuck Matt you didn’t have to describe that

Matt’s like "here’s your pretty tattoo Nott, here’s your very lovely tattoo Jester, here’s your TOTALLY BOMBASS tattoo that goes all the way up the BACK OF YOUR SKULL Beau"

like I’m not saying Matt plays favorites but his wife’s character definitely got the coolest tattoo

Boy talk over fish and chips heck yeah

Mmm gonna get some deep talk from Caleb?

Caleb expressing that he feels like maybe they’ve been brought together for a purpose <3

Cad telling him he’s believed Caleb was meant for something important since the beginning

Caleb the green bean farmer

"The god’s plant us, plant their will and their desire, and we move towards the fruit we’re meant for bear for them." Aw that’s... sweet, Cad.

Fjord being like "idk man I’m still figuring it out" what a mood

Caleb admitting he feels like he should run away

"I have started to forget what it was like not being with you people. And we are missing one, I am stuck on the fact that we are still missing one."

I wish I was fast enough to transcribe word for word this conversation because it’s excellent

I like Fjord’s question of "when you know, do you run away or do the right thing knowing it could kill you"

C: "You two are alright."

Cad: "We’re getting better."

F: "So are you, you know, you should give yourself credit."

C: "Mm..."

Cad: "I know... just think about it."

(Wow my old Widofjord feelings just came back with a vengeance.)

Cad adding in his own encouraging words about how Caleb is growing and becoming better made me happy too

C: "I hate tattoos."

Nott in the distance: AHHHH

C: "they’re just not for me."

Cad: "they’re frowned upon in my family."

And then they go see the girls

"We brought fish and chips—what they fuck"

All the Jester ships are eating well tonight

I’m so glad Jester finally got her cool tattoo

Y’all don’t want to see mom and Yeza and Luc?

lol Jester "I didn’t tell my mom about the tattoo"

"I’ve seen parents find out their kids had tattoos literally at the funeral"

I literally could not tell if that was Cad or Taliesin sharing

You guys didn’t even say bye to Orli! YOU MONSTERS

Boy that talks blurb with Brian talk about Caleb is GOOD SHIT MAN

No Brian don’t stop please go on and on about Caleb

lol Matt getting himself in the face with the paper

I knew Dairon was the one who got them out of trouble <3

EXPOSITOR OUTFIT AYYYY

just got new official art and now Beau gets a new outfit and the girls get tattoos xD

B: "I apologize"

M9: "wwwwwoooooaaaaahhh"

And library access again yay!

HEYYYY DAIRON

Beau gets to be a role model now lol

Oh yikes... selling out the Kryn to the King... don’t like that

Vence... NewTHEYLESS??

I don’t like that

Everyone: *excited freaking about Beau’s expositor room*

Cad, a good 10 seconds behind: "You had a monk bunk."

Dairon admitting she realized her prejudices against the Kryn were wrong. You know what that is? Growth.

They’re all so proud of Expositor Beau

Caleb trying to do "normal" accents is amazing lol

I don’t want him to be split from the group but I definitely understand his concern

Scary world ending lore oh boy

Oh god I forgot about the gentleman being here...

YES NO DO NOT GO ALONE that’s a dumb idea honey Jester please

N about J: "well she convides in everybody. Just says whatever she wants to say all the time."

This whole Beau and Nott conversation is amazing xD

Fjord and Jester: talking

Beau and Nott: talking

Caduceus walking along and enjoying the group communicating and sharing their feelings

Is he an earth genasi?

That’s the second time another wizard has called Yussah a fool, poor guy

I like how Ormid’s like "who the fuck are these people" but he also trusts Yussah enough to listen to them that’s nice

Hmmm I don’t like that’s awfully suspicious

WHISPERSSSSS

He keeps coming back to the beacon and I don’t like it

So like.. what if he is in on the whole thing and is trying to steer them away from looking deeper into the beacon?

Jester honey why you go and name drop Trent?? Like fuck.

Also interesting that both the King and his council have been more aggressive and pro-war lately, and the Bright Queen is also bent on the conflict in a way that I’ve personally felt doesn’t seem to quite mesh with her character, it definitely lends towards the idea that they’re being manipulated

Ormid’s a bit of a dick, although I guess I can understand, they’re not explaining themselves super well

Hng idk how I feel about Ormid and I’m not sure that I like that he now knows Dairon is working to get an audience with the king

But then again I’m bad about telling which NPCs are trustworthy and which aren’t.

Ormid’s face when they mentioned the cat OH MY GOD

okay fine god now I have to trust him

"I know we are talking about very important things but" I’m dying

Y’all fixing to get a symbol of the Cerberus Assembly damn

I don’t necessarily LIKE Ormid not entirely trust him but he’s already

Insight check on Sprinkles to see if he wants to go back with Jester aw

lol getting pet advice from him maybe I like him a little bit

PUMAT SOOOOL

it’s been so long!

PUMAAAAT SOL

Guys I have missed Pumat so much he just brings me so much joy

Fetch quest for Pumat DO IT PLZ

Oh

Wait

Basilisk oil that’s maybe not a great idea

GO SAILING TO THE ISLANDS

They gotta go to islands for Traveler Con right is that close?

"Let me get it from CritRole stats" lol

Oh thank god health potions

Armor boost oil is neat (plus 1 to AC isn’t bad) but ouch it’s pricy

I love that they CANNOT keep money they get it and then they spend it. It’s #relatable

Uh.... what’s happening to my boy?!

Caduceus?!

MATT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BOY??

45 pats slashing??

WHAT IS HAPPENING

CADUCEUS

oh NO

fuck no

Is there a rift near?!

WHAT THE FUCK

The Inevitable End?

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Evil assassin person??

45 points of damage fuck

This is bad

Sam: “WE’RE SHOPPING MATT” MOOD

23 doesn’t hit?!

Oh they’re in trouble

God DAMN I’m freaked out omg

Does he have The Invulnerable Vangrent as a map??

God what a cliffhanger

[theinsanecrayonbox]

oh here’s some more of my M9 modern/quarantine/video call au that no one asked for, because my mind wanders and i like domestic fluff

everyone primarily lives in 2 buildings, that may be across the street from each other

in building 1;

Caduceus just recently moved in with Fjord and Jester after the lease on a sublet was up (plus Jester’s is closer to the bakery he works at normally); Fjord formally moved in with Jester about a month before, after a bad breakup with his ex-girlfriend and couch surfing for a few weeks (one of which was Cad’s at his old place). Jester’s mom pays for the place, so she has a place to stay when she’s in town. the boys do contribute rent though, which goes into other bills.

Nott/Veth has an apartment with Yeza and Luke. she moved out here before they did, since it was for Yeza’s job; he stayed with Luke to finish packing up, while she found them a home before he had to start work. they’ve been here a while though, just that she’s more familiar with everyone else cause she’s been around longer.

Caleb lives a floor up and one unit over from the Bremattos; Veth has been known to scale the fire escape to go climb onto his balcony...half the time to return his cat.

in building 2;

Yasha used to live with Molly, until he had to go away “for work” (rumor says it was rehab...). she tried to live on her own for a while...Fjord actually stayed at her place the longest. she’d finally asked Beau to move in with her pretty much when quarantine started, so yeah, that got put on hold.

Molly does still live in the building though! when he came back, with K’nessan and Ashe, they got a unit several floors away from Yasha; they didn’t wanna impose on her, since you know, growing family and all.

other people;

Essek is here. he’s fancy rich, lives far uptown with his family...and kinda hates it at times, so often goes and stays with Caleb; only Verin knows where he disappears to.

Reani used to live in Molly and ‘Ness’ place; she moved away, that’s why they got it so cheaply

Keg was somewhere else...but got shipped off for army training to another state. she and Beau were a thing, but with having to move, they broke it off, but Beau also lost her place to live that wasn’t her parents’

Calianna lives in another city entirely, and is mostly just in Jester’s video chats, though she has come to visit before

Avantika is Fjord’s ex. we don’t like to talk about her if we can help it

now for the fun “we’re in quarantine’ shenanigans;

Essek did indeed escape Thelyss Manor, about an hour after lockdown was announced. his mother didn’t know he ever made it back to the house...but Verin did; basically he agreed not to rat his brother out as long as he checked in with him by text regularly. the brothers are pretty good at staying out of each other’s business as long as you prove you’re still alive. he’s gotta call his mother once a week to prove he’s safe though. but at first, he kept trying to hide in Caleb’s M9 video chats, but then Veth randomly showed up and caught them and was dying for like 4 days not to say anything until Jester caught sight of Essek in the background in one video chat in Caleb’s space cat pj pants.

part of Ashe’s daily routine is running up the flights of stairs to go hang out at auntie Yasha’s place and go out onto her balcony too see their tiny garden (Ashe’s apartment does not have a balcony you see). sometimes they’l catch Cad doing the same across the way and have a waving contest

Jester cannot share a screen with either of her boys on the group calls, she just physically cannot...most of the time. she’s better with Cad than Fjord, but Cad sort of is known to wander the apartment and goes in and out of both Jester and Fjord’s screens.

Jester has “kidnapped” Luke a few times to go bake cookies with her and Cad, and by “kidnapped” i do mean that she forgot to tell Veth she was doing it (thus leading to her catching Essek in Caleb’s, cause Luke either goes there or to Jester’s)

Beau got trapped at her parents’ in the suburbs and HATES it. she was in the middle of moving in with Yasha, so yeah, she’s been getting “talked out of doing that” a bunch. that’s why she was annoyed more than amused when the wild Essek appeared, because sure he could escape his annoying family, but she couldn’t, uhg!

Jester’s known to leave the M9 group call to go answer other calls (like from Cali or her mom, or even her dad surprisingly enough-he’s been very nice offering to get hard to find supplies for his daughter and her boys...and we don’t ask how he comes by these goods...). sometimes she’ll come back to the M9 call, other times she’ll crash Fjord’s feed

idk if Cad is preg with Cami or not. on the one had, Fjord is trapped with a pregnant firbolg and a tiefling on sugar withdrawals, so that could be funny...on the other, Cad would get really claustrophobic or the like, because he feels like he should be doing stuff and can’t. either way, at the start they’re all “pft, we won’t have to worry about having a baby at home, it won’t last that long” but as time goes on...

as said before, Ashe, Luke, and TJ have a “tiny tots business conference call”

i’m torn between Cali getting stuck at the Ironbrood home for quarantine and that’s how Jester learns her bff is dating someone OR her being home, and her parents accidentally interrupt a video chat with Tarn (that might have been getting steamy lol) and that’s how her parents find out

Beau has really gotten into Words With Friends or whatever and nags everyone to play with her; Molly keeps cheating by using pharmaceutical words, and Caleb uses zemnian

‘Ness pretty much stays to the background of Molly’s feed, except when they go a group game night playing Quiplash or something of the like

Cad video chats with his family at least every other day; it took Clarabelle and Calliope walking their parents through how to use the video app, but they figured it out eventually

[plounce]

god ik its a wm au but I would Love to hear more about beauyasha in this au.. also like what has yasha been up to on earth? how does she interact with beau and caleb before molly arrives? 💜🕊

>:)))! i can absolutely do so!!

so in the first two or so seasons before all the heaven/apocalypse stuff, beau and caleb met yasha in an episode. she never SAID she was a valkyrie but that’s what they assumed she was, since she had a lot of viking stuff on her and the accent and she sort of implied that. it’s what made sense at the time, especially because they had no signs that angels are a real thing.

then molly happens, and then when yasha shows back up again they recognize each other and WHAT! YASHA’S AN ANGEL ACTUALLY?? crazy.

basically what happened is that at around 200 bce or so, yasha fell in love. i’m gonna say that zuala was another angel in her garrison, and angels aren’t supposed to fall in love. they’re supposed to be conforming divine warriors who don’t have all the flaws (or strengths, or texture, or spark) that humans do.

zuala was painted as the main culprit in this transgression. rather than making her Fall (les mis voice) as lucifer fell (because by that point they didn’t want to add any more True demons to hell’s side) for punishment, they decide to just obliterate her a la the hellfire in the last scene of the good omens tv show. it isn’t pretty. yasha is made to watch. she screams, and it makes the sun flare.

the rest of the angels are going to have their memories wiped of her - including yasha - but she learns of this in time and breaks through the floor of heaven and plummets to earth. molly helps her escape, but manages to avoid getting caught doing so.

molly was in the same garrison as them, and his memory of zuala was wiped with the rest of them. he remembers yasha, remembers being fond of her, remembers that she left heaven voluntarily and that he helped her, but there’s so many blank spots. they have him move garrisons to the tomb-takers after that, who are very elite and militant, and he becomes a demon-killing expert. it’s meant to drown out all that. and it kind of works; molly remembers more of yasha when he sees her again on earth.

yasha falls and falls and her angel blade slips from her hand as she dematerializes. it plummets and falls deep into some wilderness. a glint streaking down from the shooting star in the sky that night.

what happens next is the thing that happened with anna - yasha has no vessel lined up and she wasn’t given permission to leave, and is swiftly getting her grace cut off by heaven, and her being is transformed into a human baby. she is born, and grows up in a little scandinavian village a little bit strange. her parents tell her how there was a huge shooting star the night she was born, how they think it’s a good omen form the gods, and she has a sense that she’s different - special. she’s strong and naturally gifted with the club and the axe and especially the sword - anything they put in her hands.

when she’s old enough, she’s chosen to go on their clan’s raids. she excels at getting the resources her village needs from the southern peoples. she’s a terror, and everyone knows that she’s blessed from above.

then one year, she gets separated from the raiding party and is making her way through the forest trying to make it back to the coast so she can find their boat. and out of the corner of her eye she sees a strange glint, and something in her pulls her to go to it. it’s a strange sword embedded in the rock, and she puts her hand on it, and pulls –

and memories and power flood into her. memories of zuala, of creation, of molly, of heaven’s gleaming pathways, of zuala, of the first things that crawled on land, of zuala, of the face of god, of zuala, zuala, zuala. smiling, flying, fighting, touching, burning. she screams. her howl echoes through the woods.

her people have been waiting for her back at the boat, because they can’t leave their best warrior behind. when she strides out of the woods, she’s different. she walks different, and has this power radiating from her. she climbs on the boat, tells them to go. she’s almost glowing a little bit. they row away, and yasha spends the entire journey staring up at the sky, out at the horizon.

after that day she’s different. even quieter. everyone assumes she had a holy experience that day, and she doesn’t disagree, because, well. after that day she’s keenly aware of the norse gods’ presences, and doesn’t age. when she realizes that everyone is moving forward towards death without her (humans seem so small now - she loves her human parents, she does, but remembering what the sun looked like in its infancy changes a viking), she leaves, and goes to asgard, and pledges herself to the ranks of valkyries. she’s not nearly as strong as she once was, but she’s strong enough to fit in with her new people, so she finds herself a place there among the aesir.

(side note im keeping my distance from how this world interacts with non-abrahamic religions - thats SO not my business - just know theyve got their own power and their own places that aren’t like. Beneath that of abrahamic god. because iirc spn was terrible about that) (also i say abrahamic bc iirc islam has a lot of angels and demonology in its culture but thats all im gonna say bc again: i am not a theology major, and this au is much more about the surface fun of it all rather than making any statements or assertions about ACTUAL religions (past or present) obviously) (also i’m never gonna mention jesus or the antichrist or whatever)

the angel blade is tied to her grace. her grace still exists up in heaven, locked away in the archives, so the blade still has its source. it also contains her love for zuala and molly and - and all that she loved before she was torn apart - and that fuels it, connects it to her. gives her access to its power. she’s mostly just sort of supernaturally stronger and can take more of a beating than a normal human, and on certain days/times of year she can fly short distances. days that were holy to her. she carves norse runes on her blade, because it’s hers now. she can’t age or die of old age, but she still does have human needs - food, water, sleep. she’s tough, but if she’s unlucky then she can be killed. luckily, she’s very good at fighting.

her wings… they’re not like they once were. being with the valkyries makes humans see them like other valkyries’, but the aesir can see them for what they are - decayed, fragile, skeletal things, with what remaining feathers there are barely hanging on. like her feathers in cr proper.

after ragnarok, when the surviving aesir meet in the fields of asgard, yasha thanks them for their hospitality, and returns to midgard. she wanders for a while, mostly by herself. she helps when she sees people who need her help, but mostly she just keeps herself alive and moving. quiet, contemplative. loving god’s creation even though heaven hurt her deeply. she spends years not speaking to anyone. what happened to the aesir was traumatizing to her, and she’s secure enough that she doesn’t need what they gave her when she was “younger.”

at some point she makes her way to north america. she wanders, builds cabins, and when she stumbles upon the opportunity she watches over what she once watched over. she’s aware of Hunters but is uninterested in them - they’re not hunting for food and while they help widows and the grieving that’s not their Business. not her business.

flash forward to early season 2. we know beau and caleb by this point and the basic premise of the show and the world. on a hunt in montana beau and caleb take shelter in a cabin during a snowstorm, and in the middle of the night the door opens. beau is taking watch and shoves a gun up in the intruder’s face - but it’s just yasha, holding a deer carcass and looking distinctly unimpressed. “you’re in my house.”

beau stutters an apology, caught entirely off guard by the 6′5″ mountain of a woman, and yasha shoulders past her to the table to stoke the fire and clean her kill. it’s her dinner for next month, yasha gruffly explains when beau asks what she’s doing. don’t like supermarkets.

caleb wakes up to beau helping yasha cut away the entrails. he is very frightened and confused, but when beau gives the all-clear he calms down a little. not entirely, because he knows this woman is beau’s type, and they’re still on a hunt.

they explain what they’re up to to yasha, who nods. says she’s noticed things have been strange. and beau helped her, so. she’ll help them. she’s also bored, and has a good feeling about these two.

so she helps out with the hunt, and throughout the episode beau clumsily flirts with her and yasha never turns her down but also never Flirts back. there’s a tension that’s mostly powered by beau but isn’t shut down by yasha (yasha thinks beau’s sweet and attractive, and she’s taken some human lovers over the last two millennia, but is still devoted to the memory of zuala. the audience doesn’t know that thought). she and caleb connect on a We Are Both Quiet Introverts level, like they do in actual cr (reminiscent of the shaving scene after bowlgate).

it isn’t until the end that caleb and beau think she’s anything but a mountain lady. then she pulls out a HUGE GLOWING SWORD carved with RUNES and THERE’S SOMETHING BEHIND HER THAT LOOKS LIKE WINGS? and then she nods, says goodbye, and walks away into the woods before caleb and beau can pepper her with questions about what the fuck just happened.

they run after her, but can’t find her or the cabin again. in the car ride back to civilization, caleb theorizes that she might be a valkyrie, and beau’s like yeah that sounds appropriately sexy.

yasha is a fan favorite. she had a whole focus episode and she was so mysterious and cool! the audience clamors for her to be brought back, and are sad when she doesn’t show up for the rest of season 2. beau and caleb mention her a couple times, so it’s made plain that she isn’t TOTALLY a one-off, but… hm!

beaujester shippers already existed by this point (jester was in season 1 and again in season 2), and beauyasha gains some popularity. beau having attractions to both of them is present in the show, but she isn’t dating either of them. there’s significance to both of them - they’re both people beau thinks of when she thinks of having Somebody.

a lot of fic about yasha is written between seasons 2 and 4, theorizing about her life as a valkyrie and what her and beau meeting up would be like… which is all then jossed when angels happen in season 4.

caleb gets taken to hell at the end of season 3 because of ikithon and for beau. during his last couple days on earth, he begs beau to find jester. or hell, yasha. don’t be alone, please. live and be happy. go get - go get powerlifted by one or both of them. i heard you sleeptalk enough about that. and beau tells him to shut up, don’t talk like that, i’ll - i’ll find a way to bring you back. and then you can see me get gay married or whatever it is you want me to do. because i’m gonna get you out of there. and caleb smiles, and his eyes say we both know you won’t.

there’s a whole genre of fic about jester or yasha (or both) comforting beau and settling into hunting/domesticity with her or helping her rescue caleb after caleb gets dragged away btw. idk why im making up fake fic about this au but you know what. i deserve this.

yasha is sort of put out of mind in the heaven excitement of season 4 and the arrival of molly as a third companion, turning their duo into a trio half the time. the apocalypse stuff isn’t quite happening yet btw (this is where i start diverging from the seasonal structure of spn), it’s just angels being real and caleb and beau being mysteriously important to them.

there is one point where during the beginning of an episode about halfway through the season where they’re regaling molly with a story of one of their hunts - beau is trying to embarrass caleb with a time he got enthralled by a siren, and caleb bats back with well, at least i didn’t let a giant woman with a dead deer push my gun aside so she could skin the thing with no enchantments on me at all. and beau’s like AW CMON DUDE DONT BRING YASH INTO THIS.

then there’s a shot where their bickering dialogue continues but the camera is focused on molly, who tilts his head a little, considering, then takes a sip of his orange juice (he hates coffee - too bitter! if he’s going to consume something to keep up the idea that he’s human, it’ll be something that tastes good!). then it cuts to the car.

it’s intentionally ambiguous if that’s about caleb getting seduced by a siren, beau being embarrassed, or whatever - it’s just an odd little moment. which is significant when they’re up north again, four episodes later, in a little restaurant off the highway, and they’ve just finished their meal and talk about the season plotline is happening when the door SLAMS open, and booted feet stomp across the dirty tile, strong legs in worn jeans, a huge backpack - beau’s eyes widen - and there’s yasha, striding directly to their table with a look of utmost focus and determination.

beau goes to stand, caleb’s brow furrows - yasha, what are you doing here - what’s going on - when, before they can act, molly stands up, causing the table to rock and their cups to slosh over. yashael! he exclaims, his face split in incredulous delight. you’re alive! you survived! you’re okay - it’s been millennia! what are you doing here?! oh, i don’t care, get over here. and he goes to her, and she hugs him, and beau and caleb are standing there, slack-jawed, as stony stoic yasha cracks a wide smile and hugs molly and lifts him off the ground.

did… did mollymauk just say ‘yashael?’ caleb says, stunned. molly is cradling yasha’s face in his hands, and her cheeks are round with joy. beau’s imagination could never have given her this smile, and she’s jealous a little bit, but also in awe, but mostly also trying to process the two puzzle pieces that just locked themselves together that she thought were totally separate from each other.

(relevant posts to their reunion: art, text, text)

from then on yasha is part of their group, at least for that season. there’s a lot of caleb and beau commiserating over their attraction to two LITERAL ANGELS - especially when the truth of yasha’s fall is revealed. beau is torn up inside about all of it - an ANGEL, for the first part, and her dead angel lover (how could beau ever compete with an ANGEL) and, oh christ, molly’s odd humoring of her crush on yasha is cast in a new light now.

and then jester comes back and… well, now beau’s torn between two hot girls who are both important in the grand scheme of things! yipes!

it takes a long time and there’s probably also some romantic drama in that triangle etc, but beauyaster is endgame. because i have a huge fucking brain.

[drawacharge]

For the AU thingy ... Steve and Billy being friends since childhood and Billy having a massive crush on Steve (who's fucking clueless) then Steve's crazy about Nancy... blah blah blah, thoughts?

send me an au & i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

oof, anon, how did you know this is like my fave au lmao

basically billy moves there when he’s like eleven, rather than seventeen, and he’s a little chunky but he’s already a spit fire and when he tackles tommy hill to the ground for calling him fat steve is like wow i like this kid and invites him to sit w/ them at lunch & the rest is history 

they become fucking inseparable. if harrington is there, you can fucking bet hargrove isn’t close behind. they’re spending every weekend at each other’s house that their parents allow. sometimes steve wakes up and billy’s already in his house, or in his pool ( because steve gets up too fucking late & billy gets up at like 8am regularly and can’t deal w/ waiting on his sleepy ass ) poor tommy kind of becomes the odd guy out some days, but once carol joins the fray he stops giving as much of a shit. 

unlike teenage girls, teenage boys stop sharing beds at some point because it’s too gay ( at least thats how it was when i was a teenage so im betting it was worse than that in the 80s ) which tommy states like every time he makes a bed on steve’s floor, or steals one of the guest rooms. billy & steve, however, don’t really care. hell, they never even discuss it. steve’s bed is easily the most comfortable bed in his house and billy is Not about to give that up because of something hill says – that said, when steve sleeps over at billy’s ( which is rare ) he always takes the floor or the couch. billy says it’s safer this way and steve’s just learned not to question it.  

when he’s thirteen years old steve mentions the bruises on billy’s arms and their origin to his dad. steve’s dad just wrinkles his nose and says we don’t get in the middle of another family’s business and moves on. later, steve considers riding his bike down to the police station but billy begs him not to. after that they agree that any time billy needs to run away from home, or from his dad for a while, he’ll come straight to steve’s

billy knows he likes guys as soon as he hits puberty ( probably even before that if he’s honest ) he knows he likes steve in particular about a year after that when they’re sitting by the pool laughing and drinking beer they swiped from his dad’s fridge. two years after that he realizes he’s in love with his best friend, but it’s too fucking late because suddenly steve can’t take his eyes off the too-skinny rich girl with the annoying brother. 

+it tears them apart, more or less. the more steve hangs out with nancy, the nastier billy becomes about it. he hates her, hates the way steve looks at her, but most of all he hates that steve will never look at him that way. and he watches steve antagonize jonathan byers and call his brother a queer and realizes that, not only will steve never feel the same, but that if he ever dared to tell him how he felt, he’d lose his best friend, too. nevertheless, billy’s loyal, and when byers’ goes for steve’s throat billy’s there to yank him off and beat the shit out of him.

++billy’s there when steve tells tommy and carol to fuck off. he watches as tommy gets in steve’s face. he gets between them, shoves tommy back, opens his mouth to tell both of them to cool their jets but. steve tells them to fuck off. tells them all to fuck off.

tells billy to fuck off.

and, just like that, billy loses his best friend. and the love of his life.

+++it takes an entire year and his stupid step-sister wrapping herself up in upside down drama for them to talk again. by then steve’s fucking heart broken because he wasn’t good enough for the girl next door and following the curly-haired lispy one around like a lost puppy. they meet in the junkyard, billy begrudgingly following behind his little sister and her new beau that he’s only allowing because he knows she’s gonna do what she wants anyway, and at least this way he can help make sure neil never finds out.

they stare at each other, give very forced greetings of “harrington” “hargrove” and billy just barely refrains from killing max when she rolls her eyes, calls them drama queens, and orders them to get their head in the game. 

++++billy thought he stopped caring about steve harrington when he chose a piece of ass over his best friend. he thought he’d never give a shit about the brunette again, even convinced himself that love he felt turned into hate, but.

then steve pulls some dumbass shit and hops out of the fucking bus to go head-on with a couple slimy dogs and billy just acts without thinking. 

one minute he’s on the bus yelling at the brats to keep it down and the next he’s outside, crowbar in hand, saddling up to harrington and reminding him to plant his fucking feet as they realize how horribly out numbered they are. and he realizes, as he steps between an incoming demodog and his once best friend, that he never did stop loving steve harrington. not for a fucking second.

[chwrpg]

Murray, I have asked you repeatedly not to call me "woman".

A NOTE FROM ADMIN R: Oh, oh, oh ! Y’all don’t know how happy I am to be accepting this application. Dylan is truly one of my CHW faves and to have her taken up by you, Cailin... that’s just an honor. I can not wait to see what you do with her, but I know one thing... this dash ain’t ready fro the looks Dylan is about to serve us. Thank you so much for applying and welcome back, love !

OOC NAME/ALIAS, PREFERRED PRONOUNS, AGE & TIMEZONE:

cailin, (she/her), 25, est

DESIRED CHARACTER:

queen mother, dylan davenport

HOW ACTIVE WILL YOU BE?

8-10

SECONDARY CHOICE:

taylor flick

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER:

Dylan is shrouded in beauty, bold fashion choices, witty comebacks, and her daddy’s debit card. But the woman wearing the Amina Muaddi heels to 7/11 is much more interesting than her out of this world clothes. If Chanel’s head is in the clouds, Dylan’s feet are planted on the ground. She’s the fuel to the fire, the one who gets shit done. Things don’t move without her — and that includes the fashion scene in Rosewood. Dylan could’ve been a surgeon, she has the brains and attention to detail for it, but, you see, what Dylan says or doesn’t say goes. She predicted high waist jeans making a comeback before Vogue did, telling the girls one day during first period. So she’s a bit of a culture oracle. It’s why people care about what she’s thinking, who she’s endorsing, what designers she’s buying. They even want to know what she’s watching on a monday night. Her confidence and sincerity is inspiring. When she’s not taste making though, she’s the loyalest, most straightforward friend you can find in her tax bracket. Balancing the thin line between being no-nonsense and fun to be around. She does it well, though. In fact, she does most things well (driving not included.)‌ Her peers boast about her style and charisma, her professors brag about her work ethic and creativity, her boyfriend….well, her love life is a tumultuous roller coaster but every icon needs a fixer upper. Plus she gets diamonds every time he fumbles.

SAMPLE WRITING:

( Alexa, play Daddy )

The day Dylan was born she became a daddy’s girl. Stevie Wonder could see it. Dada was her first word much to her mother’s chagrin. He never raised his voice at her, never got impatient with her when she spilled her juice or threw her food. He got up in the middle of the night so his wife wouldn’t have to even though he had meetings at 7 in the morning. It didn’t stop there, though. Mr. Davenport didn’t put her down at parties. He carried her around on his hip as he mingled and held court, demanding on no one use baby talk for his brilliant baby girl. “She’s smart like her mom.” He would say to his captivated audience. For her third birthday he rented out an entire amusement park. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t yet tall enough to ride the rides, she had asked for it so he made it happen. He was a doer and a fixer, but he wasn’t perfect. Mr. Davenport had always been a better father and provider than a husband.

So, when she was five, her parents went through a nasty divorce. The papers their lawyers drew up cited irreconcilable differences but she’d come to realize, many years later, that was just how rich people skirted around the truth in hopes of keeping people out of their business. In truth, Mr. Davenport had spent the better part of his career sleeping with secretaries, temps, and clients. Basically anything that was of age and not nailed down. Mrs. Davenport had only grown tired of it after watching Halle Berry cry over Eric Benet  on Oprah. But like she’d taught  Dylan, Mrs. Davenport thought three steps ahead, and had arranged to have a cheating clause in their prenup. She saw the board before she’d even stepped foot on it. And, Sure, they’d been in love when they got married at twenty three, but a cheater never changed its spots, just his lies. In an instant, she got half of everything. Twenty percent of his future earnings, and 360 lipo for a girls trip to Maui to celebrate her emancipation.

All Dylan got out of the deal was two houses, two birthdays, two Christmases, two cars she still couldn’t drive when she turned sixteen. The court awarded them joint custody, ruling they both had enough sense to figure out the schedule on their own. But since that was the year her mom went back to school for her PhD, Dylan spent the majority of her time with her dad and a nanny. Those double holidays also served as a good distraction from the heartbreak she couldn’t explain. Though she was sharp as a whip and actually funny, not laugh because it’s a kid funny, but really funny, she still couldn’t wrap her little mind around why her parents drove to separate houses at the end of the night now. At all those parties, what stuck out the most was everyone saying what a handsome couple they were, how lucky they were to have another. They danced and laughed. They seemed so happy. But looks are deceiving and lucky for her, the loneliest year of her young life was also the year she met her best friend.

( Alexa, play Wannabe )

Dylan and Chanel became an instant package deal, and she thanked her father for not being able to keep his dick out of seedy holes because she wouldn’t have went to school in another district if her mom hadn’t won the house in the divorce, and she wouldn’t have sat down next to Chanel at show and tell, and they wouldn’t have bonded over their pretty dresses, or shared their organic apple juice. God worked in mysterious ways like that. She had a partner for life, and nothing came between them. Not even boys. And, despite having the power to date any eligible bachelor in her grade, she really liked one in particular.

The day she brought Paxton home her took one look at him and chuckled. Dylan figured it was because of the grill he hadn’t learned to talk without slurring with yet, but her mother had other ideas. “He reminds me of your father.” She said, long after he’d gone home, but not before Dylan spent fifteen minutes walking him to his car. The driveway was super long but her lipstick was nonexistent when she returned. That didn’t matter though, because Dylan knew what that meant. Her mom thought Paxton was charming, likable, handsome — but she also knew he was a liar and a dog. They argued for well over an hour, and she said some things she regretted but that’s what teenage girls did, they rebelled against becoming their mother all while doing so. She didn’t realize just how much he was like her father until she caught him DMing other girls on instagram and got a diamond necklace out of the deal. Still, it was clear that he could shoot a man in broad daylight and she would always be daddy’s little girl, nothing could change that.

“Daddy!” Dylan whined, clinging to her dad’s arm as they traipsed through another commercial property with their real estate agent. Today was the day she was finally going to buck up and switch locations from her dad’s pool house to an office space in scenic, downtown Rosewood. Being interviewed by magazines had been life changing, sitting front row of the hottest runways next to A-listers had its perks, doing a skincare routine video for vogue was dope, but expanding her business because the calls wouldn’t stop coming in to be styled be Dylan and her associates? That was something she’d done herself from the ground up. She’d started with styling her friends and now she was going to style the world.

( Alexa, play Successful )

Her heels were tall enough to greet God but she still only reached his shoulder. “I hope this one has vaulted ceilings.” Her tone was way past passive aggressive. She would’ve dialed it back had their agent not been set to make serious bank off of this, but had only been showing them office spaces with disgusting lighting and rude doormen. For all of their sakes, she hoped this one was better. “I need two sessions of hot yoga after the last mess you showed us, at least. My chakras are all out of wack now. Thanks a lot, A.” She was being dramatic but her dad didn’t stop her. He just smiled that infamous smile at the agent and excused himself to the back of the elevator to take a call. Dylan rolled her eyes when she caught their real estate agent, Angela, fawning. She was a slender woman with the proportion of a fashion model who only modeled in theory, never practice. With cropped hair and full lips. She’d been their families real estate agent for decades, found the house her mom had one in the divorce, but Dylan couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d slept with her dad while he was married to her mom, and for that she hated her.

The light dinged to signal they were at their floor, and the elevator doors slid open. When she bothered lifting them from a lengthy text she was typing to her beau, her eyes lit up like when her dad gifted her a patek for her eighteenth, or the G-Wagon that was still collecting dust in the garage for her sixteenth. Whatever the occasion was, she was aglow just like then. The floors were European oak, all the walls were white sans a charcoal accent wall that would be the space of her future desk, and yes, the ceilings were vaulted with windows to match. It was beyond.

“Daddy!” She squealed, running around the space and dreaming up renovation ideas. “This is the one. It’s, like, perfect.” Dylan ignored the real estate agent when she repeated the price tag. 1.2 million may have been a lot for some people, but some people weren’t his little girl and Angela should have known that by now. “Wait. I need to call Chanel!”‌ Dylan could bet she’d be calling Chanel the day Play got down on one knee ( What?‌ A girl could dream ) before she even said yes. She was greeted with a selfie when she unlocked her phone, tapping her chanel platform sneaker clad foot against the wood while the facetime call connected, “What do you think about staining the floor another color?” She asked before absolutely beaming when Chanel’s face appeared on the screen.

“I found it! I found the perfect space.”‌ Without another word, she flipped the camera and did a little dance when Chanel’s excitement nearly exceeded hers. She knew a squeal of absolute glee when she heard one, “I know! Ok, so Just imagine a chaise here, we can install some shelves here. Do you think we can get a Prosecco fountain?…” She walked her through the office like Angela had done moments before, moving out of earshot so her dad could handle business, while they discussed all the possibilities. “Today an office with a view, tomorrow Dylan Davenport’s Fashion Academy,” she beamed.

All her daddy had to do was sign on the dotted line, and she knew he would. He was, after all, her doer. He wouldn’t dare break that illusion…right? The journey from the bathroom back to the main area of the office space was a short one, and she was all smiles until she rounded the corner only for her dream to turn into a nightmare. Her face cracked along with the screen of her phone as it hit the ground and shattered, “DADDY!” She screamed. The sight of her dad and Angela kissing over paperwork causing her to gag instantly.

“Honey, let me explain…..”

There was nothing to explain. Horrible step parents was Jasper’s lane, not hers.

( Alexa, play Ring Off )

ANYTHING ELSE?

1985.