#cotrk events

[cotrk-events]

Hello Charlie Bone Tumblr! (And everyone else who wants to participate!) Welcome to my silly little first event <3

The Bad Shipping Fic Bingo!

What is a fic bingo?, you may ask. Well, you will receive a bingo card. Instead of numbers, there will be prompts or ships. Your goal is to include as many of these as possible in any fanfictions you write, mark them off and maybe even get a bingo!

There is no limit to how many fics you can write, or how many prompts should appear in each fic. Don't take it too seriously! You don't need to include anything you don't want to, and are free to mark background ships as written or write a very liber interpretation of a trope. Whatever fits you best!

Now, here's the catch: this isn't just a Fic Bingo, it's a BAD Fic Bingo. Many of these prompts are especially suited for low-effort writing and bad interpretations of characters and ships. I'm including a field that will feature randomly generated shippings. This doesn't mean whatever you write has to be bad. It's just a fun thing we came up with and a way to ensure no one feels pressured to write well! Every Fandom needs some beloved bad works, no?

How do I participate?

Just ask in the notes or contact me on Discord! I will reply with a bingo card for you!

You can ask me for a specific size (3x3, 4x4, 5x5 with a free space...), for me to exclude (specific) ships or include "mature prompts" (bad smut and unrealistic depictions of oregnancy/substance use. you're not really missing out on much)

You can also participate without a card! I'm definitely not going to stop you, anyways ;)

Don't (want to) write Fanfiction? Feel free to do a comic, a bullet list, or whatever form of art you prefer! Bloor's isn't limited to one type, either ;)

If you're going to post to ao3, you can add your fics to this collection. If you post to ao3, @ me and I'll reblog them on here :D

[children-of-the-red-queen]

Fandom week would be cool, but this is a different direction than I was going to do

I was thinking about going character-focused events and have them open to artists of any kind and stuff, but honestly this is even better

I could always put character/ship suggestions and try to put all charas eventually

i need charlie bone to gain a massive fandom so that there are young people with poor media literacy writing instalove/soulmate bullshit about charlie and dagbert because it would be REALLY REALLY FUNNY

[mossiestpiglet]

Since I’m probably never gonna actually write them, I’m sharing my cotrk fic ideas so everyone can stew in the concepts with me:

Rise and fall of the Bloor family as shown from the perspective of their dining table - each chapter is a meal a few years/months apart, separated by big events in the Bloor family. Looking at how just deeply unpleasant it is to be a Bloor, that all the “family” stuff is sort of just set dressing for the reality of their situation. Haunting and creepy and weird, unhappy ending. Would follow canon events/timeline as close as possible and sort of just fill in the blanks.

Post-canon, Manfred and Asa reconnect and figure out their relationship - Manfred survives and leaves the city to try and figure out what his life is going to be now that the whole Bloor family scheme has fallen through. He bounces around for a couple years and then is finally working at (insert stereotypical job here) when he runs into Asa and finds out he has landed in the same town that Asa has been living in since getting away. There’s some “are you here to kill me” on both sides, they barely start talking stuff out before deciding Absolutely Not, and Manfred sort of hopes Asa will just leave him alone forever, but Asa recognizes the change in their positions and so won’t let Manfred go. Asa has found himself a new group of endowed friends (who actually like him! for the first time in his life!) and this group has a totally different view of him than being Manfred’s Dog, so things get a bit weird when Asa drags Manfred into this group. There is a lot of tension and the group doesn’t really get Manfred, or why Asa is so attached to such a weird asshole, but one day they are all out and Asa is getting pissed at some stranger and his new friends are all nervous and uncomfortable with his aggression and then Manfred is able to recall him instantly. And the group is like oooooohhhhhh that’s it. They had only known Asa as a Man and a Beast, but now they see that (for the right person), there is also a Dog. This incident prompts Manfred and Asa to dig a little more into what happened between them and how they are going to go on.

Post-canon, Naren and Harold meet - Naren decides she wants to meet the rest of her family and make up her mind about them herself (not just listening to what Bartholomew says). Since Harold has left the city and she has no idea how to find him, she asks Charlie for help, and he asks Lyell. In my BarleyAU “canon”, Lyell tells Charlie to go to Barley, and Barley facilitates the meeting, but I also like it without Barley as a chance to also explore the dynamic between Harold and Lyell and choices made in order to move forward. Harold and Naren end up having an odd sort of relationship, not least because they are siblings that are 35+ years apart in age, but the outlook is optimistic because 1) Naren is just Like That and 2) Harold is more generally unpleasant than actively harmful nowadays. (Manfred is alive, he’s just not involved in this because I hc that he and Harold aren’t on good terms post-canon for quite a while, and really only ever reconnect if someone else brings them back together, such as Barley, Lyell, or Naren)

BarleyAU, Barley and Billy bonding (alliteration yay!) - Barley and Billy’s relationship is like actually quite relevant to my BarleyAU plot because Barley gets so protective of Billy so quickly, but there is also just lots of fun side scenes of them bonding over their love of animals that wouldn’t make the cut if I did ever write a whole BarleyAU. This would be fun and funny and very much for the animal nerds, with also some undertones of found family as that is the trajectory of Barley and Billy’s dynamic.

Post-canon, Emma as an older teen with PTSD, trying to figure out how to go forward - Set when they are in their final year at Bloor’s and Emma has been having a rough time as the years go on. She has a lot of guilt and shame over feeling like she is disappointing everyone around her by not moving on, or being upset, and generally feels like there is no one who can understand what she went through, and her distress affects her endowment in painful and embarrassing ways. She starts to fixate on the idea of closure, thinking that the reason she can’t just “stop having problems” is because Manfred (and Harold but mainly Manfred) left the city when she was 12, and she never got to actually confront him about it. Everyone is super against her seeking him out, but Lyell feels bad enough about not having helped her when he was the person who had the most in common with her situation to give in and help her find Manfred, and also to try and protect her as much as he can (again). There’s lots of ways that talking with Manfred could go, but what I’m most interested in exploring is Manfred having also been a kid at the time and how Lyell and Emma feel about that, putting Lyell in a situation where he has to start processing things himself and can’t just act like it’s all wrapped up, and Emma realizing that there really aren’t any answers to be found in Manfred, she has to find it in herself and the people who care about her.

1902AU - Setting the whole series just a century earlier and exploring how that setting affects the dynamics. Plot would follow the canon without too many huge differences probably, it would mainly just be focused on how characterization and setting interact.

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Truth or Dare

@cotrk-events

Everyone knew that Gabriel and Fidelio were crazy about each other but those two idiots still hadn’t made a move yet. Why, Olivia couldn’t understand. So she’d devised a plan—get them to admit their feelings for one another via a game of Truth or Dare.

Olivia loved Truth or Dare. There was something rather thrilling about being made to confess your deepest truths or do embarrassing things. It was even more thrilling to make other people do those things. 

But anyway. Olivia was hosting a party at her house, and all her friends were invited, Gabriel and Fidelio included. This was where she would strike. Emma wasn’t sure about her plan, for what if something didn’t go as planned, or what if they got mad at her? You don’t have to worry, Olivia reassured her. Everything will do exactly as planned. And besides, everyone knows that Gabe and Fido like each other. They just need some encouragement to finally get together.       

 

The party started; all her guests arrived. They spent the first hour or so in the dining room catching up, listening to music and munching on the delicious snacks her mother had obligingly prepared for them. Then Olivia led them all to the living room, where they sat in a circle facing each other.  

“For our first game, we’re going to play Truth or Dare,” Olivia announced gleefully, and ignored the groans from several of her friends who hated the game.

“I’ll start. Charlie, I dare you to use your endowment for fun. Pick a random photo and tell us what it’s saying.”

Charlie groaned. “Really, Liv? We’re not supposed to use our gifts for frivolous reasons.”

Olivia shrugged. Charlie had grown so serious over the past few years. Sure, they shouldn’t misuse their endowments, but there was a difference between using them to have a bit of fun and abusing them. What was the harm if they did it for a bit of fun as long as no one got hurt?

“No one else is here except us,” Olivia pointed out. “Besides, you’ve got to do it. It’s part of the game.”

Charlie sighed. “Fine. Give me that magazine over there.”

Olivia handed him her mother’s Celebrity Weekly magazine that was sitting on the coffee table next to her. Charlie flicked to a random page that had a photo of two female celebrities sitting on the edge of a pool dressed in bikinis, smiling brightly at an unknown camera man. He stared at the image for a few moments, until Olivia grew impatient with curiosity and blurted out, “Well, what are they saying?”

To her surprise, Charlie blushed a little. “Well… the two women—they’re models-- are gossiping a bit. One of them is talking about how someone called Tiffany is having an affair with her manager who’s married. The other woman is laughing and the camera man is coughing and asking them to focus so they can finish the shoot. He doesn’t sound very happy. One of the women says, Come join us, we’ll give you some fun. Then—and I don’t know why—the scene starts shaking and going all blurry. I think the cameraman says, This is the last time I do a job for a pair of rich bitches. And that’s all.”

“Wicked!” Olivia exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Tancred agreed, his hair crackling with excitement. “Awesome!”

“I think it’s horrible,” Emma said. “Those two models treated the poor cameraman terribly!”  

“I think it’s a frivolous waste,” Lysander said severely. “You shouldn’t have asked Charlie to do it, Olivia.”

Olivia stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re being way too serious, Lysander Sage. It’s just a bit of harmless fun.”

Lysander frowned at her. “Still, we shouldn’t use our gifts like this.”

Olivia shrugged. “Anyway, Charlie’s done the dare, so now it’s his turn.”

The following half an hour was great fun. Olivia laughed and gasped along with the rest of her friends as each of them either told a truth or did a dare. Emma picked Truth and admitted that there was one time where she got stuck as a bird and spent a day and a night like that until she remembered how to turn herself back. Tancred was dared to balance an apple on his head while reciting a silly poem, which he failed at spectacularly because he kept laughing and blowing the apple off. Naren also chose Dare and managed to scare the group using her gift to conjure shadowy monsters on the walls of the living room that were shining with the moon’s light.  

And finally, it was Olivia’s turn again. She smiled brightly and said, “Gabriel, I dare you to ask Fidelio for a kiss. On the lips.”

Gabriel started in surprise and went an interesting shade of pink. He looked at Fidelio, who looked back at him with a friendly grin on his face. He hesitated. 

“Come on, Gabe!” Tancred laughed. “We all know you. Stop being so scared! Nothing bad is going to happen if you try it just this once.”

“I… all right.” A determined look crossed Gabriel Silk’s face. He squared his shoulders, stood up and walked to where Fidelio was now standing waiting for him. “Fidelio… ah… would you mind if I kiss you? Just this once?”

Fidelio smiled at him. “I wouldn’t mind in the slightest.”

Shyly, Gabriel Silk leaned forward. Fidelio did too. Olivia watched with wonder as their lips met and their world narrowed to only each other, as if nothing else mattered.  

After a few moments the two boys broke apart, grinning wildly at each other. Olivia and the rest of her friends cheered. They had all known about the boys’ feelings for one another, and to see them finally make the move was a joy to see.  

An hour later, when the group had left the living room and scattered to do their own thing for a while, Olivia came across Gabriel and Fidelio sitting close together on the sofa, murmuring quietly to each other. Yes, she thought jubilantly, they were definitely sitting closer than any friends would.   

Olivia smiled to herself. Her work was done. 

[cotrk-events]

Cotrk Cover Challenge

Oh? What's this? A new event? Don't worry! The old one is still going. This is just something for the more visual artists to enjoy!

The Book Club finished Midnight for Charlie Bone last night, so it's time! To draw your own cover design!

I will, of course, tell you all to look at the beautiful cover collection on Midnight's wiki page ;)

Have fun, everyone!

Idea stolen from @luckypunk27 . Who is working on a Time Twister cover atm, sorry lmaao

[poparthuriana]

I had the same thought! I told @cotrk-events about it and am happy to say that Fantasy Island AUs are included in the Children of the Red King fandom's Bad Fic Bingo challenge. It will be glorious.

I've been watching some Fantasy Island lately, and I think the Fantasy Island AU needs to be the next hot fanfiction trend. It's perfect! Contrive some way for your blorbos to end up on Fantasy Island (Mr Roarke does this all the time), put them in their own fantasy or someone else's, and teach them a lesson or let them be happy, who knows. I want to read it.

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Cursed Love

@cotrk-events

Dorcas Loom had a secret. She was in love with Gabriel Silk, the famous concert pianist. But there was a small problem—she was cursed.

It had started with her illustrious ancestor Ifalda Loom, who had gotten herself into an affair with a married French Lord. Unfortunately, that lord had a powerful witch for a wife, and once she found out about the affair she became enraged and cursed poor Ifalda to never find love. She also cursed her husband—she turned him into a toad.

Sadly for Dorcas, the curse was inherited by Ifalda’s descendants, particularly her female descendants. Dorcas only found out about it on her eighteenth birthday, when she came of age and her longtime boyfriend broke up with her suddenly for a very vague and strange reason. It was the curse, her parents told her when they revealed the truth to her. The curse had driven him away. This was to be her fate, for the rest of her life.

Dorcas was understandably distraught. She would never be able to find love, and all because some stupid ancestor had pissed off a witch. It was outrageous, it was unfair! For years she lived in denial and tried to circumvent the curse—she pursued countless men (Dorcas had never been attracted to women) but once they got to the engagement stage the men would either suddenly drop dead, disappear or break up with her. None of her relationships lasted.

It had to be the curse, working its magic. After years of this, Dorcas had to accept that it was real and that she would never find love. But then she fell in love with Gabriel Silk.

Gabriel Silk was an old friend from her school days. They’d gone together to Bloor’s Academy, but she hadn’t thought much of him then. He’d always been so moody, depressed and odd. Plus, she’d also put him into a coma once by enchanting a cape he tried on—something which she’d assumed he wouldn’t forgive her for. After all, she wouldn’t forgive anyone who did that to her.

More recently, however, she’d reunited with him in a coffee shop in L.A. where they were both working now—he as a concert pianist and her as a fashion designer. And as he said hello to her and smiled, she found herself blushing and stammering like a schoolgirl. Oh my god, she realized, Gabriel Silk is hot!

Unlike herself, who was still as pudgy and plain as she’d been as a teenager. But Gabriel didn’t seem to notice that and just said that she looked great.

They got into talking to each other and found that they had quite a bit in common. They exchanged phone numbers, since they had to get back to their jobs right then, and Dorcas almost swooned as Gabriel wrote his on a paper napkin and gave it to her with a sweet smile.

‘I’ll see you later, won’t I?’ he said. There was hope in his eyes that warmed Dorcas’ hollow heart.

‘Yes, definitely,’ Dorcas breathed out.

‘It was only after he left that Dorcas remembered about her curse.

Their first coffee date was a huge success, and so they arranged another one, and then another, until they had to admit that they liked each other a lot. So they started dating. At this point, Dorcas knew that she should tell Gabriel about her curse, but part of her was reluctant—what if Gabriel broke up with her, and wasn’t their relationship doomed to failure because of the curse anyway?

Still… she had to tell him at some point. It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise. She just had to wait for the right moment.

The right moment, it turned out was months later, right when he was about to propose to her.

‘Wait!’ she screeched, as he knelt before her with a rockstar diamond ring in his hands. ‘You can’t propose to me yet! I’m cursed!’

Gabriel looked at her incredulously, but listened as she told him her story. She expected him to freak out and run away from her, but once she’d finished speaking he only took her hands and said, ‘I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. You still want to marry me, right?’

‘Of course I do!’ Dorcas said. ‘More than anything.’

A steely determined look filled Gabriel’s eyes. ‘Then let’s break your curse so we can get married and live happily ever after!’

Dorcas didn’t have his optimism, but if it did work then she’d be able to be with her love forever, so she smiled and agreed.

Their first step in breaking the curse was research. Dorcas knew how the curse had started, but not how to break it. It took months of searching and a visit to a magic library and a witch doctor, but they finally discovered the three key ingredients—a Mafia’s tears, a pearl lost in a crocodile-filled swamp, and a True Love’s Kiss. The True Love’s Kiss was a very special kiss and could only be done when the couple in question were so in love that nothing could keep them apart. Also, one of them had to be dying for it to work. Yadda, yadda, something to do with the tales of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and how their princes had woken them up from a death-like sleep with a kiss, Dorcas read.  

Ugh. She didn’t want either of them to almost die so that they could be together. But if it was the only choice, well, they would have to deal with it when they came to that point.

For now, they had to get the Mafia’s tears. Luckily for them, one of Gabriel’s best friends from Bloor’s Academy, Lysander Sage, was now a Mafia mob boss. Dorcas had no clue how that happened, for hadn’t Lysander gotten into a law degree at some prestigious university back in Britain? Gabriel shrugged. He didn’t know either. He’d lost touch with Lysander when he moved to L.A. to become a famous musician.     

They travelled to Lysander’s Mafia group’s secret hideout in San Francisco, where Lysander said they could meet when Gabriel had contacted him. When they did meet, Lysander embraced Gabriel with tears in his eyes, which was very unlike him. ‘He’s high on weed,’ one of Lysander’s minions said. ‘It’s his favourite drug.’

Since Lysander was a Mafia boss and he was already crying, Gabriel asked him, ‘Hey Sander, can I have some of your tears? We need them to break Dorcas’ curse so she can marry me.’

Lysander sniffed and said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And so Gabriel took out a small bottle from his pocket, uncorked it, and held it underneath one of Lysander’s eye and five drops of tears dropped into the bottle.

Dorcas sighed with relief. That’s one ingredient down. Now two to go!

However, just before they could leave, the hideout was invaded by another Mafia group lead by none other than… Dagbert Endless!

‘Dagbert?’ Lysander stared, surprised. ‘What’re you doing here?’

‘Hey, babe,’ Dagbert said to him. ‘My Mafia minions have come to take over your turf and destroy everything you’ve built. While they’re fighting do you want to go get married in Vegas? I’ve got a car waiting up front for us.’

Lysander thought for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Sure, why not?’

He and Dagbert kissed and ran off while their minions were shooting at each other and dying. Since Gabriel and Dorcas were heading in the direct of Las Vegas anyway, they decided to join Lysander and Dagbert in the car. Dorcas thought this may have been a mistake, since the whole way to Las Vegas Lysander and Dagbert kept kissing with their eyes glued to each other and didn’t stop even when Dorcas threw one of her shoes at them.

In Las Vegas, the two lovebirds got married. Gabriel was Lysander’s best man and Dorcas was Dagbert’s maid of honour. The best thing about this wedding, Dorcas thought with some satisfaction, was that Lysander and Dagbert were both rich and paid for whatever bridesmaid dress she wanted to buy. So Dorcas bought and wore a pink Cinderella style dress with matching high heels and had her hair done up like Marilyn Monroe. She felt like a queen and Gabriel said that she looked gorgeous.

After the wedding, Lysander and Dagbert went back to their wedding suite to fuck and Dorcas and Gabriel used that to their advantage to steal their car. After all, it was a long way to New Orleans.

It took them an unknown number of hours to reach New Orleans—mainly because this author is not American—where their second ingredient was. A pearl trapped in a swamp surrounded by crocodiles. It sounded like a suicide mission, but they would have to try if they wanted to break Dorcas’ curse.

So they bought some good swamp clothes, boots and weapons against crocodiles and headed into the swamp. The swamp was really icky and smelly and disgusting, but hopefully they would be out of there quickly. If they didn’t get eaten by crocodiles first, Dorcas thought grumpily.

They managed to reach the location of their prize fairly easily. It helped that the pearl was shining like a lighthouse beacon, guiding them toward it as if it wanted them to find it. The problem now was that it was surrounded by a ring of hungry crocodiles.

“Oh grief, oh mum!” Gabriel screamed and almost fainted. He did collapse, though.            

Dorcas wanted to scream as well, but since Gabriel had collapsed, it probably wasn’t a good idea if she did too.

‘Hey, you!’ she snapped at the crocodiles. ‘I need that pearl, so you can skitter on out of here!’

The crocodiles turned to look at her, and Dorcas was reminded that they were very hungry and she probably looked like an appetising meal to them.

Then one of the crocodiles spoke. ‘Uhh pearl? We don’t care about that,’ it said. ‘We’re just lying here so that someone will feed us if they come searching for the pearl.’

‘Then you won’t mind if we just take it?’ Dorcas asked.

‘Only if you feed us,’ the crocodile said.

Dorcas rummaged through a bag Gabriel had brought with them and lo and behold, she found the leftovers of the wedding feast she, Gabriel, Dagbert and Lysander had eaten way back in Las Vegas. ‘Catch,’ she called out, and dumped the whole lot of it in the middle of the ring of crocodiles.

She and Gabriel watched for some time as the crocodiles ate the feast. Once the crocodiles were done, she said, ‘Now can you please let us pass? We need to get that pearl.’

‘Sure,’ the crocodiles said. ‘That feast was nice. Thanks!’

Polite crocodiles. Who would have thought it? The crocodiles moved to let Gabriel and Dorcas through and Dorcas collected the pearl, which glowed between her fingers. Thank god, she thought. Now they could get out of there. She hated swamps.

Now, there was only one ingredient left—the True Love’s Kiss. Dorcas wasn’t looking forward to that at all. She and Gabriel drove all the way back to the witch doctor they’d first visited ages ago, for surely the witch doctor would have something they could use to induce a death-like sleep.

Thankfully, the witch doctor did have needle that would put one into a seemingly deadly coma upon being pricked by it. Much to Dorcas’ annoyance, the doctor insisted that she must be the one to be pricked by the needle, for ‘in the tales it’s a princess who falls asleep and is kissed awake by the prince’.

'What kind of fucked up sexist shit is that?’ Dorcas snapped, outraged.

Dorcas didn’t hear the witch doctor’s response, because while Dorcas was distracted the witch doctor had stabbed her in the arm with the needle and Dorcas fell over unconscious.

‘There,’ the witch doctor said to Gabriel. ‘Now kiss her and you can be together forever!’

‘Here?’ Gabriel asked doubtfully.

‘Hmm.’ The witch doctor thought for a moment. ‘No, you’re right. The setting should be a lot more romantic than this.’      

And so they moved the unconscious Dorcas to a clearing filled with sweet-smelling flowers in a forest and laid her down gently on her back. Then it was time to do the thing. As Gabriel gazed down at his love, he hesitated for a moment, for the idea of kissing an unconscious person felt a bit weird. Was it considered assault if his lady wasn’t awake to say yes? But then he remembered that the whole point of this was to break Dorcas’ curse so that they could be together, and so he leaned his head down and kissed her gently, softly on the lips, and willed with all his heart that she would awaken and be free of the curse so they could get married and be together.

It took a few moments, but Dorcas stirred, came awake and kissed him back ardently. The witch doctor cheered.

When they were done kissing, Gabriel asked the witch doctor, ‘Now that we have all the ingredients, how do we break the curse?’

‘Oh,’ the witch doctor said, ‘the curse should already be broken now. All you really needed was the True Love’s Kiss.’

‘What?’ Dorcas glared daggers at the witch doctor. ‘We went to San Francisco and to that horrible swamp for nothing?’

‘You’ve made me rich,’ the witch doctor said. ‘That’s not nothing. I can sell the pearl at a great price and get out of this hellhole. And I can use the mafia’s tears to give my greatest enemy Hanahaki Disease.’

‘That’s… great?’ Gabriel said, bewildered, while trying to hold Dorcas back from gouging the witch doctor’s eyes out. ‘Well, we’d better get going. How will we know if the curse is gone?’

The witch doctor shrugged. ‘If you get married, I’d say it’s been broken.’

‘Great, thanks!’ Gabriel dragged a still-angry Dorcas away and toward their car. After all, it was a long way to Las Vegas and they had a wedding to do.

Dorcas and Gabriel arrived in Las Vegas to find Lysander and Dagbert still there, as those two had decided to stay and party after realising that their car had been stolen. They were rich, after all, and didn’t need to worry about how much it would cost. Upon being told about Dorcas and Gabriel’s upcoming nuptials, Lysander and Dagbert enthusiastically agreed to be their best men.

And so Dorcas and Gabriel were married in a beautiful Italian Roman-looking chapel in Las Vegas. Gabriel was dressed in the most handsome black tuxedo, and Dorcas in a Hollywood-style fluffy white wedding dress with so many layers people wondered how she could walk in it. She had a tiara in her hair, because it made her feel like a queen. Petals were thrown into the air, vows were spoken, and she and Gabriel kissed, and neither of them dropped dead. It was a dream come true.

After the wedding, the newlyweds ran off to their honeymoon suite to fuck. Meanwhile, Dagbert and Lysander took this opportunity to steal back their car and journey to places unseen, for after all it was originally Dagbert’s car in the first place and they wanted to give Dorcas and Gabriel a tiny bit of their own medicine. But they did leave behind enough cash to allow the newlyweds to get out of Las Vegas when they were done fucking, as a wedding gift.       

THE END

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

The Singer

@cotrk-events

They first met at a karaoke bar. Grizelda had gone there to drown her sorrows after Monty’s untimely death, and she saw her—Treasure—singing her heart out to Mamma Mia. The woman looked a bit younger than her, was a bit chubby and her brown hair was messy and tangled. She didn’t really look that attractive, but Grizelda found herself entranced by the way she held herself as she sang, as if she didn’t have a care in the world and didn’t care what other people thought of her. 

Grizelda didn’t consider herself a singer or a performer—she’d been placed in Art at Bloor’s Academy—and so she just sat and watched, entranced.

 After ten or so minutes, the woman finished her singing and walked over to Grizelda.     

“Hello,” the woman said, smiling. She had a kind smile, Grizelda thought. “I saw you looking at me while I was singing.”

“You sing well,” Grizelda said stiffly. “I am not a singer and I don’t usually enjoy music, but I enjoyed listening to you.”

The woman beamed. “Thank you, my dear! It’s lovely to hear you say that. I’m not a professional but I like singing, so I try to do it when I can.” Then she added, “My name’s Treasure.”

“Grizelda.”

“That’s a nice name,” Treasure said. “I had an aunt named Grizelda.”

“That’s… nice,” Grizelda said, unsure how else to response. She wasn’t a talkative sort of person—in fact, she usually preferred to listen to other people talk.

“I��m passing through on my way to Paris, to see a friend,” Treasure said cheerfully. “She’s a musician.”

“Oh.” Why was Treasure telling her this? “I’m trying to forget about something too,” Grizelda admitted. Treacherous tears filled her eyes as she thought about Monty.

Treasure looked at her with sympathy and concern, though she surely couldn’t understand what Grizelda was going through. Still, it felt comforting to Grizelda.

“My husband, Monty, has died in a plane crash,” Grizelda explained. “I just received news about it yesterday.”

“Oh, you poor thing!” Treasure said sympathetically. “I know how that feels. I had a fiancée who drowned. It was some years ago now, but it still hurts, especially around the anniversary of his death.”

“It does hurt so much right now,” Grizelda admitted. “I don’t know what I’ll do without him. Does it ever get better?”

Treasure appeared to think about it for a long moment, then shook her head. “Not really, no. But we get better at getting on with things and enjoying life.”

Life. Grizelda sniffed.

“You look like you still need some cheering up,” Treasure said. “How about you come back to my place for a while? We can get to know each other better there.”  

Grizelda sighed. It sounded like a wonderful idea, but there was Lyell to think of. “No, I can’t. I must get back to my son. I left him with my sisters for a few hours so that I could have some time to myself, but if I leave him alone with them for too long who knows what they’ll do? They’re terribly irresponsible sometimes.”

“Hmm.” Treasure thought for a moment, then her eyes brightened. “Oh, I know! You can bring him too! We don’t have to do anything… you know. We can just talk over a glass of wine or whisky and get to know each other. You seem like a very interesting lady.”

Interesting lady? Grizelda raised her eyebrows. No one in her life had ever described her in that way, and she certainly didn’t think she was interesting at all. After all, she had no endowment to speak of. Still, it pleased her that Treasure thought she was interesting enough to want to get to know.  

“Very well,” she agreed. “I will pick up my son and will meet you outside the bar.”

“Wonderful!” Treasure beamed and Grizelda suddenly felt like her world was tilting around its axis.

As agreed, they met up outside the bar, and Treasure led Grizelda (who now had her son in her arms) to the room in the inn she was staying at.   

Treasure cooed over the baby. “Ooh, he’s so cute! What’s his name?”

“Lyell,’ Grizelda smiled proudly. “Monty named him. I wanted to call him after my great grandfather, but Monty was so set on giving him his mother’s name that I didn’t have the heart to argue with him.”

“Well, it suits him.” Treasure gazed at the little infant with his dark fuzz of hair. A soft smile came onto her face. “Can I hold him?”

Grizelda shrugged. Even though she hadn’t know Treasure for very long, there probably wasn’t much risk in agreeing to her request. The woman looked harmless. “Very well,” she said, and held her son out so that Treasure could take him. Treasure smiled, and Grizelda felt her own heart flutter.

When little Lyell was secured on Treasure’s lap, Treasure admitted, “I’ve always wanted children of my own, but I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance now. You recall I told you about how my fiancée died?”

Grizelda nodded.

“Well, he was murdered. Drowned by a man named Lord Grimwald. Grimwald wanted to take me and my sister as brides, but we refused. So he drowned our family and sweethearts in revenge. My sister and I went into hiding after that, because we knew he’d come after us as well. I’ve been by myself ever since.”

Despite not being a very empathetic woman, Grizelda found herself feeling sorry for Treasure. Her life sounded very sad and lonely.

“But enough about that,” Treasure said. “Tell me about yourself, Grizelda.”

And so Grizelda did. Over glasses of wine, Grizelda told Treasure about her childhood, how she met Monty and fell in love, being a mother to little Lyell, and Monty’s death. She didn’t mean to say quite so much, but the wine made her more relaxed, uninhibited and animated than she otherwise would have been. Treasure listened, smiling encouragingly with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

“I envy you a bit,” Treasure sighed, when Grizelda had finished speaking. “You may have lost your husband, but you still have a family, and you have a son. While I am alone.”

Grizelda snorted. “Surely being alone is not so bad, if you ignore that you’re running away from an awful man. You can do what you want. I however always must think of the expectations and wishes of my family, and I must also spend all my energy looking after Lyell. I will never regret giving birth to Lyell, but I do sometimes wish I was free to do whatever I want.”

“Hmm.” Treasure took a sip from her glass of wine. “Yes, you’re right, I don’t have anything holding me down like you do. But I can’t see my sister, or marry and have children, because of that wretched Grimwald. He would only use those things against me, and I couldn’t take losing any more loved ones.”

Grizelda noticed that tears had filled Treasure’s eyes. Grizelda’s heart pricked, despite herself. “I’m sorry,” she said impulsively. “I do not mean to be insensitive. My life is very different from yours, and I’ve never experienced what you have.”

Treasure sighed. “No hard feelings here. But this is making me maudlin. Let’s change the topic, shall we?”

And so they continued to converse until well into the night. By the time Grizelda got up to leave, she felt like she knew a lot more about Treasure than when she’d first met her at the bar. And Treasure knew just as much about her. Strangely enough, Grizelda did not mind a bit. It somehow felt right.

Treasure handed Lyell back to her and walked with her to the inn’s entrance. Though neither of them spoke it aloud, they both knew that they had made a special connection tonight that they might never have again. It made Grizelda feel slightly regretful and maudlin.

“Your son is beautiful,” Treasure said. “Treasure him.”

She then kissed Grizelda sweetly on the lips. It startled Grizelda, but also filled her with feelings she couldn’t explain. Grizelda returned the kiss just as sweetly, and the two woman shared a beautiful moment together. Then they broke apart and looked at each other.     

“Goodbye, my dear,” Treasure said, smiling sadly. “I hope we meet again someday.” And before Grizelda had a chance to say anything, she was gone, walking away back toward her inn room. Grizelda watched her go for a few long minutes, her heart aching more than she’d expected it to.   

Then Grizelda sighed and shook her head to bring herself back to reality. She needed to get back to her own place, to her family and the expectations and duties they laid on her. This time with Treasure had been wonderful, but it was over now and Grizelda just had to get on with things, just like Treasure had said. Never mind the ache of loss she felt in her heart. It would fade, with time, and she would have other things to occupy her.

So Grizelda Bone marched away from the inn and those wonderful, beautiful hours with Treasure, and toward reality and her future.  

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Only One Bed

@cotrk-events

It was a nice summer’s day in June, and Naren and Charlie were camping in the wilderness. It had been Naren’s idea—she’d always been the more adventurous out of the two of them. Charlie had objected, unable to get out of his mind the terrible stories of the wilderness he’d heard about as a child. But Naren had laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Charlie, I know it like the back of my hand! We’ll be perfectly safe! And if something does happen, I can protect you.”

Though he knew Naren was joking about protecting him, he felt surprisingly reassured by her confidence and enthusiasm. And so he agreed. A week later, they packed their things and set up a camp in the wilderness close to Bartholomew’s cottage. They spent the majority of the first day exploring, chatting, and snacking on dried fruit, granola and biscuits that they’d managed to gather up for their trip.

Then when the sun began to set, they found a good camping spot and began setting up their campsite. Charlie started setting up their tent while Naren began trying to build a campfire so that they could cook their dinner.

It didn’t take Charlie too long to set up the tent, and he then put their belongings in. While he was doing that, he made a horrible realisation and his face fell in dismay.       

“Uh, Naren?”   

“Yeah?” Naren looked up from where she was trying to ignite the campfire.

“We have a problem. Or really, I do.”

“What is it, Charlie?”

Charlie flushed slightly and scratched his head. “Uh, well… I kind of forgot to bring my sleeping bag.”

Naren fought back an urge to laugh, and unwillingly a smile creeped across her face. Charlie smiled back sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to forget it. It just slipped my mind when Ben came over with Runner Bean. We were in the kitchen and Runner Bean tried to eat an apple pie Mum accidentally left on the kitchen table. He caused so much chaos that we had to take him for a walk and I forgot about everything else.”

Naren laughed so hard she fell over onto the grass. Her laughter was so contagious that Charlie began laughing too. It was funny, after all, so he wasn’t offended at Naren’s amusement. After a few moments their amusement died down and they looked at each other.      

“What should we do now?” Charlie wondered. “There’s only one sleeping bag.”

“Well…” Naren thought for a moment. “You can sleep on the tent floor, but you might be cold. Or we could take turns using the sleeping bag. Or,” and here she smiled mischievously, “we can share my sleeping bag. We’d both be warm that way.”

Charlie’s eyes went so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. Naren almost laughed again seeing it. “That would be cozy…” he stammered. “And tight.”

Naren smiled at him. “It wouldn’t mean anything, Charlie. Unless you want it to.”

The problem was that it would mean something to Charlie. He’d liked Naren for years—if he was honest with himself, he’d had a crush on her since she’d first come into his life when he was twelve years old as the girl in the sunshine coat.

He always thought she was pretty cool and smart, and recently he’d also begun to notice how attractive she’d become. So if they did this, everything would change. He wouldn’t be able to hide how he felt about her any longer. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for that, or how Naren would feel about it.       

But Naren looked at him with a merry smile on her face, the smile he loved most, and he found himself saying, “Let’s do it. It—it wouldn’t mean anything.” What a lie, he thought to himself.

Naren thought he looked cute with that awkward but also sweet look in his eyes. She also noticed the desire lurking in his eyes—desire for her. A warm feeling bloomed in her heart. No one had ever desired her before. And even if they did, she’d rather it was Charlie. She liked his steady presence, his eagerness, his joyful nature, and even his impulsiveness, how much he cared and his clumsy attempts to help other people. She didn’t think there was anyone else she wanted to be with, at least for now.

So, once it was time to go to bed, Charlie snuggled into Naren’s sleeping bag, along with Naren herself. They were lucky her bag was reasonably big, Naren thought with a giggle. Otherwise both of them would never be able to fit inside.

Once he was settled inside, Charlie became very conscious of how close he and Naren were to each other. He’d been right about it being cozy and tight—he and Naren were pressed together so closely that he could feel the curved shape of her against him and the feel of her body breathing in and out. It made him flush a little, but all in all, he found himself liking it a lot.

Naren found herself feeling the same way. With Charlie’s body so close to her own, she would only need to move her head slightly to rest it against his shoulder. The thought thrilled her a bit. Should she make the move? she wondered to herself. It didn’t take long for her to decide. She’d always been pretty forward and brave in these kinds of situations. So she rested her head on Charlie’s shoulder and found herself drifting to sleep shortly afterward.   

Their closeness put them both into a thoughtful silence. Eventually Naren and Charlie drifted off to sleep, but hours later Charlie woke up suddenly to find Naren’s head resting on his shoulder. Naren’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing evenly; she was clearly still asleep. But there was a peaceful smile on her face that touched Charlie.  

He didn’t want to wake her up and risk ruining the moment, so he kept quiet and just watched her sleeping.

It was that moment that convinced him. He would tell Naren Bloor how he felt about her, as soon as he could, and if she didn’t feel the same way then at least he’d know. If it changed their friendship forever, then so be it.   

[nerdgatehobbit]

So, I purchased Ash's Atlas today. I'll report back on its own post how I like it. At the very least, I'm hopeful it'll be a nice overview of most of the regions.

Still no word on if there'll be Warden Ingo in Pokémon Masters, so I'm going to keep accumulating my free gems in case he and Sneasler (or another Pokémon) are an upcoming anniversary pair, though I did like Greta in the latest story event enough I'll probably try once for her once she & Breloom are available.

I think I've said this elsewhere, but I did finish & enjoy the Belle Mirrorverse manga since making the above post. Last week I did a reread of the 'main' Dinotopia trilogy for a fun purpose to be revealed later. I think I found a way to watch 2024's Sense and Sensibility later this week (fingers crossed!) even if I haven't gotten around to a reread of the novel yet.

I overall liked The Librarians and the Lost Lamp when I read it last month; it did its best to be respectful of the Middle East while staying a 'fluffy' fantasy story. I suspect that I cut 'kitchen sink' fantasy stories too much slack, but I do feel like as long as they're trying to be respectful it's better to include truly global elements instead of sticking to European ones. Outright exclusion is bad unless the story's focus is very narrow, sticking strictly to a source can be derided as being done just to avoid accusations of exclusion or can have problems if the source is incorrect/outdated, and putting a story-specific twist runs the risk of hitting a wide variety of pitfalls. Basically, I'm willing to accept a piece of media if it sincerely tried as there's no sure-fire way to please all viewers/readers.

Also I'm accepting the characters being somewhat ethically dubious in maintaining the secrecy across the franchise as that's basically the genre convention when it comes to these stories where it's 'our' world with a hidden magical side. Though I do like COTRK's approach where it's an open secret, at least as far as the main city is concerned (probably elsewhere too but it's not shown). And how the narrative gently chides Charlie (and quite possibly the reader) in a later book for not realizing until it's spelled out to him just how many and wide-spread the Red King's descendants are.

As far as The Librarians show is concerned, I'm well into the 3rd season and I'm enjoying it. I'm on Tara Cole's arc in Leverage, and it's been pretty interesting so far. Star Trek The Next Generation continues to be all right. I wanted to like Static Shock's "Winds of Charge" more than I did, which I'll get into the posts I'll make about it.

My library-fueled peek at Murder She Wrote has been fun so far; I'm not doing anything resembling a real watch, though.

13 Books

Right, I was tagged by @old-man-ghost a few days ago and I'm finally getting around to doing this!

1: The last book I read: Disney Princess: Beyond the Tiara, which was an interesting look at the involved films and their impact. It was self-congratulatory at places, but I think that's the trade-off for it being an official book.

2: A Book I recommend: Dinotopia by James Gurney, between the gorgeous art, the inventive world-building, and the great characters. The franchise as a whole is one of my favorites, but this is the book that started it all.

3: A book that I couldn't put down: I read the first nine a while back, but I really enjoyed the first volume of Spy x Family. I need to get around to reading the tenth & eleventh volumes.

5: A book on my TBR: In addition to the aforementioned duo and quite a few other books, I'm waiting until I'm further into The Librarians as a show before I read the 3 tie-in novels.

6: A book I've put down: This isn't probably what's meant, but it's the only recent example. Over a month ago, I checked out The Secret Life of the American Musical from the library specifically to just skim it to get a clearer grasp of the different types of songs in Broadway musicals. Though I did spot its section acknowledging the issues of relying on star power for musicals, which seems relevant to what went on with the Sweeney Todd revival.

7: A book on my wish list: This one is kinda silly, but I am curious about Ash's Atlas, it's just that I've been reluctant to seriously look into getting it because I know it's very likely not be a pseudo-guidebook, and more likely just acts to recap anime events. I'd like a Pokémon book that does more with discussing the geography, history, man-built places, & notable people.

8: A favorite book from childhood: I'm going to go for Midnight for Charlie Bone, the first in the Children of the Red King series. I didn't get to read them all as a kid, but the first few I definitely did. I still have a soft spot for this series, though the older I get the more I wish for a perspective flip novel(s) showing what the adults were getting up to, as it's very clear that they're getting up to stuff off-page in addition to what Charlie and his friends see. I'm definitely anxious about how the potential upcoming TV adaptation will turn out.

9: A book you would give to a friend: Hmm, it would depend on the friend's tastes. Maybe I'd be selfish and give them the Project Gutenberg link to Once on a Time just so I'd have someone to talk about it with. It's one of my favorite books (it definitely can be seen as a precursor to The Princess Bride and Galavant).

10: The most books you own by a single author: It's probably a toss-up between Tamora Pierce and Rick Riordan. Both of them are well into the double digits.

11: A nonfiction book you own: I have Team of Rivals, which is a really interesting look at how Abraham Lincoln got elected and then turned the other candidates into his cabinet during the Civil War.

12: What are you currently reading: I've only read the prologue to the Belle Mirrorverse manga, but I liked it. I'm pretty much just here for the BATB content (as seen by me currently having Funko Belle as my icon), as I didn't play the game for long. This says more about my minimal gaming skills than the game itself (no, seriously, I struggle with LEGO & Pokémon at times). I am curious how this altered story will play out.

13: What are you planning on reading next: I still need to reread Sense and Sensibility, especially as I keep meaning to locate the new movie (I like the gifs I've seen, I just need to find the time/energy to figure out how to temporarily get Hallmark access so I can watch it).

I'm on desktop at the moment and don't have a readily accessible current photo of any of my bookshelves. I'll try to remember to do something later and add it in a reblog when I'm on my phone.

This was fun, thanks for tagging me!

I'll tag @asokatanos @magic-owl @jadelotusflower @mylittleredgirl

@ladytharen @bex-pendragon @fantasysci5 and anyone else who'd like to do it!

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Blood Price

@cotrk-events

It had been one month since the worst day of her life. Since it happened. Since all of her family and her home were taken away from her in one fell swoop.

She’d always known that they could fail, that Harken could win, but some part of her had always believed that everything would be all right. That Lyell would defeat Count Harken and save the city. So discovering that it had all been for nothing, that Harken had won and everything and everyone she knew and loved was gone, well, it had broken her heart so much that she doubted it would ever heal again.

For a month she had sat and wasted away in Mr Singh’s cabin, her heart aching unbearably, her tears stinging her eyes and streaming down her face. She couldn’t stop thinking about Lyell and Charlie and Maisie and all the other people she loved who were either dead or at the mercy of Count Harken. It pained her to know that they were likely in trouble, and that she would never see them again.

Then, one day, Mr Singh had finally convinced her to go for a walk, and she’d come across a cottage in the woods, with a sign reading “Witch for hire—services available, for a price”.

A witch…her curiosity piqued, she’d stepped inside the cottage and marvelled. It was full of potions and ingredients varying from ordinary to exotic and strange. There was a large cauldron perched on a table in  the middle of the room.

The witch was also in the centre of the small space, dusting the floor with a broom. She looked up and stared at Amy when she heard her come in.

“I take it you are in need of my services,” she said in a gravelly voice.

Amy stared back at her, surprised despite herself, but then nodded. “You know, I think I am.”

“Mrs Bone,�� Mr Singh said to her with worry in his eyes. “I should warn you as a friend, that what you are about to do could go very wrong for you. You do not know what kind of effect this spell will have, or what price it will ask of you.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” Amy told him. Tears stung her eyes. “Nothing matters anymore without my family. Without my home. What does it matter what happens to me if they are all lost to me?”

Mr Singh sighed. “I know you are grieving, but—”

“Stop.” Amy touched his arm gently. “I know you mean well, but I’ve made up my mind. I must do this. For them.”

Tears stood in Mr Singh’s own eyes. He had tried his best to support her over these past weeks, even though he was dealing with his own grief. His son had been in the city when it disappeared. He had tried everything possible to help her, but he couldn’t fix the deep scars in her heart. She doubted anyone could.

She knew that he disapproved of what she was planning to do, but he didn’t say anything else to dissuade her, which she was grateful for. This would be hard enough without him voicing more of his doubts and concerns.

He walked with her to the witch’s cottage and embraced her when they were standing outside its door. She then almost felt guilty about what she was about to do, for it would leave him completely alone. But not for long, she told herself. If what she did worked, everyone would be back where they should be, and he would have his son back.

“Farewell, my dear, and good luck,” Mr Singh said to her. “You will surely need it.”

“I know,” she whispered. She hugged him back and kissed him on the cheek. “You’ve been such a true friend to me, these past months. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for that.”

“You can repay me by staying safe, wherever you are going and whatever happens to you. Do not forget your goal and the people who love you.”

“I won’t forget. I promise.” Amy blinked back her tears and turned toward the cottage door, toward her fate. Swallowing hard, she forced her herself to take those final steps and entered the cottage, where the witch was waiting.

“Are you ready?”

Amy stood with the witch in the centre of the small room, next to the large cauldron she had seen the last time she’d visited the cottage.  

“Yes,” she said. “I’m ready.”

“There’s going to be a price,” the witch reminded her. “There always is a price. Are you still willing to pay it?”

“Yes,” Amy told her firmly. “I’m willing to pay any price for this.”

After all, nothing could hurt more or be worse than the deadened despair and grief she was feeling right now.

“Very well then.” The witch began to add ingredients to the boiling water in the cauldron, until she finally turned to Amy and said, “I will need a drop of your blood.”

Amy held out her hand without asking any questions. The witch pricked one of her fingers with a needle. Amy watched entranced as blood welled on the tip of her finger and then fell into the boiling concoction in the cauldron, turning it a deep purple.

It almost reminded her of the night she and Charlie had woken Lyell up from his trance, all those months ago. Manfred Bloor had shattered the bottle of the Red King’s Tears that would have broken Lyell’s trance, and she’d thought all was lost. But Lyell had pricked his finger on one of the jagged glass remains of the bottle, had put his finger to his mouth, had looked at her and Charlie and had remembered them at last. The drop of Red King’s Tears on the jagged glass had been enough to wake him up.

Hopefully what she was about to do would also be enough to bring her loved ones back.

The witch began to chant. Amy listened, mesmerised, but as it went on and on she began to feel a bit queer. Her pricked finger began to throb painfully. And then the world fell away and she was suddenly surrounded by clouds of beautiful colours of red, green, orange, indigo, yellow…

“What’s happening?”

She turned to ask the witch, but the witch was nowhere to be found. Neither was the room she had been in. There was just the never-ending clouds of colour surrounding her. Was anyone else there? she wondered anxiously. Or was it just her in this strange place? Had something gone wrong with the spell, or was this to be her fate, to be trapped here while her loved ones and her city returned to the real world?

She hadn’t said any of her thoughts aloud, but a voice suddenly answered her—irritated, frustrated and terribly familiar. She’d heard it in her dreams for the past months, ever since she had gone with Lyell on their fake honeymoon and began helping him in his quest to protect the city from Count Harken.

“This is the blood price you paid to alter reality. You foolish woman, you’ve trapped us both here for eternity because of your need for revenge and your grief. You have doomed us!”

She shivered. She would know that voice anywhere. It was Count Harken.

“Doomed us?” she thought aloud. “Oh!”

“I could kill you for this,” the enchanter snapped. “I had the Red King’s city in my grasp, and you took it away from me! Not only that, but you reduced us to being trapped together in this dimension! All my hard work, gone. Poof!”

That didn’t seem like a bad thing, but Amy didn’t dare say so to him. After all, he was still an enchanter, and what if he still had most of his powers? If she angered him he could turn her into a toad, or worse. But at least it seemed as if he couldn’t escape from wherever they were. He was just as trapped as she was.

Well then, if this was the price she had to pay, then she was okay with it, as long as her loved ones and her home were safe. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but if Count Harken was here with her, then the Red King’s city must surely be back in the real world, and her loved ones along with it.

Lyell, Charlie, Paton, Maisie…    

She smiled slightly at the thought of them. Her husband, her son, her uncle-in-law and her mother. All who she loved dearly, almost as much as life itself.

She would likely never see them again, but that was okay. Her sacrifice would keep them safe. That would be the hope she would cling to in this strange dimension.

Harken kept ranting but Amy ignored him and closed her eyes. If she was stuck in this place for eternity, then she might as well try and get some rest.    

[cotrk-events]

Introduction post

Hey! I'm @children-of-the-red-queen and I run this blog :3

Anytime someone in the fandom comes up with a good event idea, I steal it and make an event out of it!

So far, we've had the bad shipping fic bingo.

Ideas for upcoming events include a Cotrk Cover Challenge where we draw covers of Jenny's Charlie Bone Universe books (Cotrk, cotrk and the two standalones) after the Discord Server's book club finishes them, and events dedicated to specific characters.

If you have any more ideas or suggestions, hmu! askbox, DM's, sideblog, anything is finde!

If you're looking for more Cotrk related stuff, keep an eye on my next blog project: @cotrk-poll-fun 👀

[mossiestpiglet]

...ocs? 👀

I am living in oc world all day every day and tbh if i could Art it would be over for you all because you would be forced to witness them nonstop.

Two of the fandom ocs that are consuming my whole life right now:

Still Unnamed Children of the Red King OC- literally just me isekai-ed into cotrk world from a post a while back but it was so fun i have been obsessed with the idea. They kill the person who summoned them within minutes because he’s such a bitch. The summoning gives them powers to both heal and harm by physical touch, and they have to wear gloves a lot while learning to control it which is sensory hell. Neither good guys or bad guys trust them because they think that dichotomy is bullshit and constantly disregard it to uphold their own ethics. They help Julia have her gay awakening and are in relationships with Paton and Harold. They held Manfred hostage once and have now become the best parent he’s ever had and he hates it. (Shout out to @the-walls-have-many-ears for all our wonderful convos about cotrk that have been so inspiring!!)

Liltanor/Hrávahín (lotr)- I have never spent so much time on the lore for a fandom oc, but he has taken almost two years at this point just to get satisfied with a name. I’ve wrapped them in and around the whole canon like a vine. Her mother is a Vala and her father is an elf (Vanyar), so she’s like Luthien in some ways but also I have made Luthien weirder for consistency. Both of them have shapeshifting abilities that also include ability to change sex characteristics, Luthien however chooses to always be female but Liltanor changes constantly and is gendered fluidly in universe languages (he spends lots of time as various animals too). He leaves Aman well before the Noldor (and also not on good terms) and by the time of LotR has been in Middle Earth longer than any other elf besides Cirdan. (Im skipping like. SO much there is too much lore) They are second cousins once removed with Galadriel (this wasn’t even on purpose) and more distantly related to Elrond & family. He is married to Haldir, which makes them both very happy, and many other people Unhappy because Liltanor hardcore rejects monogamy which is a fundamental aspect of elven culture (this is part of why they left Aman originally). She was lovers with Saruman in the past and would still be if he wasn’t going through his dark lord phase (Saruman is v resentful that Liltanor was so opposed to marriage back in Valinor otherwise he thinks he could have had a chance at marrying them instead and keeping them there. He is wrong). During the events of LotR Liltanor is a member of the Fellowship and forms a very close relationship with Boromir. This has consequences as they end up saving him, but in such a way that he (like them) becomes something Else and he now has to deal with immortality. As a consolation tho they also get married (yay two husbands!)

I also have a few original projects that have full casts of ocs but I’m still deciding if I might make a separate writeblr for those or what. I am also thinking about them all day every day and also making more of them like my life depends on it. My favorite hobby is to think of ways to make their relationships Worse <3

[children-of-the-red-queen]

One day I will have plot and then you all will have cotrk royalty au worldbuilding with a handful of events sprinkled in :D

16000 words??? I love you for that but also I'm not going to get anything done this week <3

Also START TAGGING YOU FICS >:(

I love angst so much that, given the opportunity to go so overboard it becomes wangst, I will. I don't respect it or myself for this. But, given the chance to add 14000 words of what is basically the :( emoji in a hot topic tshirt, I will. High school emo kids in 2006 would have loved me.

Btw, absolutely wild that you've read it all already. I haven't read your reviews yet but I see they're there. what are you DOING with your time

I do??? Tag my fics??? The point of tags is find fic featuring a character, so I ask myself "if I were looking up fics of this character, would I want to see this fic?" and only twice was the answer "no, this is too unserious and/or ooc".

...But then I went and tagged the oneshots with henliver so I guess I'll add tags to that anyways.

[nerdgatehobbit]

Season 1 Matters

I am four episodes into Sun & Moon. It has been so adorable and fun! Team Rocket has showed up to be amusing as ever. Mimikyu is... interesting. Rowlet is so fluffy & endearing. Seriously I love this show already. I’ve decided to do weekly posts on it starting next month.

Ares makes his debut in XWP’s sixth episode, and I can already see why he became such a popular character. “The Reckoning” was somewhat bleak though.

Season 2 Matters

The second & third episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures’ second season were a lot of fun as further flashbacks but I admit to looking forward to actually seeing the events following “Day of the Dragon”. I want to see Tohru as one of the good guys!

“Death Trap” was somewhat unnerving but I think that’s deliberate. It’ll be interesting to see how TCW’s second season ends. It’s hard to believe I’m basically two-fifths done already. While it’s often tragic/bleak, I am continually impressed by TCW.

As per usual when it comes to The Flash, I have mixed feelings about the season two premiere. There’ll be grumblings about how Henry’s “put on a bus” choice was handled in particular when I write up the post that’ll go up in early October. The fact that season 2 basically retreads the same storyline might make me irritable as this time around I know where the show is heading. I do appreciate Iris being already far more proactive this season than she was before, though!

Other Matters

I’ve started The Time Twister; so far I’m enjoying it. Rereading COTRK was a good idea. They are such good books. There is a lot of creativity in the world-building and the characters are so vivid. The foreshadowing can be heavy-handed but that’s excusable given the target audience. Besides, Charlie is ten: it’s forgiveable that he doesn’t have superb critical thinking abilities.

Also, I’ve been noticing that my past self drew little pencil lines at various points in the first 2 books. I believe I was marking good stopping points for a TV adaptation. Honestly, I’d love to see a COTRK cartoon. That could be a lot of fun if done right.

Right now I suspect I won’t start watching ALOK until I’m done with TCW, just to have a cap on how many shows I’m watching at a time.

I haven’t started Farscape’s third season yet but I did watch PRIS’s “Silence is Golden”. Just one more disc to watch before I move onto Lost Galaxy! Plus I wrote up a very brief post on the franchise that I scheduled for the 27th anniversary of “Day of the Dumpster”.

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Children of the Red King Theory 1: Lyell’s Hypnotization

Spoilers under the cut!

(Originally posted on the Charlie Bone wiki on 10/12/2014.)

Over the past few years, ever since I started writing for the CotRK fandom, I’ve started to wonder about some of the events that happen in the series, particularly why they happen and how. This post is the beginning of a series of posts about the different theories I’ve come up with concerning some parts of the Charlie Bone series. 

So, here is the first one: Lyell’s hypnotization was an accident.   

I know that the books say that the Bloors hypnotised Lyell on purpose to punish him for attempting to stop Emma Tolly's abduction and to find out the whereabouts of Maybelle's will, but I don't think that's all there is to it. For one thing, why would the Bloors make Lyell forget everything when they need him to tell them about the box and where it is hidden? It doesn't make sense, if they did it on purpose, that is.

So, what if it were just an accident? Maybe Manfred didn't mean to totally erase all of Lyell's memory, but it just happened in the heat of the moment. Remember, Manfred was only nine years old and at the peak of his power. Someone that young may not have been able to fully control a talent that big at times. Manfred may have been told to use his power to force Tolly to give them Emma if he gave them any trouble, as well as make sure Tolly doesn't follow them or have any tricks up his sleeve. But I don't think the Bloors planned Lyell's lifetime hypnosis, and they wouldn't have asked Manfred to do something that drastic to the only man who could tell them where the box was hidden. In my line of thinking, Manfred probably just wanted to subdue Lyell (that is, stop him from interfering with the abduction and hitting Ezekiel) and it got out of hand, maybe because of what Manfred was feeling at the time (most likely outrage at Ezekiel's injury).

Emma's hypnosis either was planned or not, I'm not sure which. Whether she was awake or not, the Bloors could use her on their side of the battle between the endowed, but it was more likely that she wouldn't return to her biological family and the good side if she didn't know who she really was. But I think Lyell's hypnosis was not planned but just something that happened.