#finding it VERY STRANGE that they havent said who the cast will be though??????

[hhawkeye]

i will say. i hope jamie muscato comes back as enjolras in the actual show and tbh i can see him as javert in a few years time

[year2000electronics]

Tumblr's being weird and won't let me find the Dark Moon rewrite post. I think there was one where you explained the story behind it, at least?

I JUST HAVENT MADE A FULL POST ON IT IM SORRYYYY but i can do bullet points of what’s going down

- so basically this kinda comes from a place of me like. liking dark moon but wishing it had more Characters. so it started with making boss ghosts and then kinda escalated

- so the plot is luigi is looking for e gadd after he went missing in a place near the mansion called evershade valley, unfortunately along the way we see a flash of lightning, a scream, and then cut to darkness

- it fades back in and it’s revealed that luigi is now... a GHOST!! oh no! (this would be the main ‘gimmick’ of the game like how mansion 3 had gooigi as a big selling point)

- he realizes he’s in a lab and he’s been captured by a ghost researcher named professor evershade who said his ghostly dna seemed different somehow so he wanted to see more

- luigi explains the situation and asks if he can help him contact e gadd but all lines to him are dead- evershade theorizes that he must have been taken by the same spectre that turned luigi into a ghost, and luigi immediately goes ‘KING BOO....’ bc who else does he have beef with.

- evershade suggests that if they defeat the four rulers of the nearby mansions they can assemble the dark moon, an artifact that will make sure no ghost will be able to cause their own mischief again

- luigi agrees, and in the meantime evershade says he can try to work on a way to see if he can change luigi back from a ghost

- he uses the same teleportation device e gadd does in dark moon to get luigi in and out of evershades lab, and luigi usually winds up in the small garden which leads to the four mansions

- (meta talk here- the multiple mansion exploring and evershades appearance are meant to kinda trick the player into thinking that it’s a ‘different character same purpose’ scenario, like how both goombario and goombella are tattling goombas)

- (you also get access to regular luigi after clearing one or two rooms in the first mansion- this serves as a bit of a tutorial segment for ghost luigis abilities and how youll be able to switch between ghost luigi and regular luigi to accomplish different tasks)

- ghost luigi probably has the power of a portrait ghost himself, so would have abilities such as the ability to scare other ghosts into fleeing a room or scaring them into doing stuff for him (which would serve as both a puzzle solution and a short-term solution for any segments where you may be stuck as ghost luigi), there are also other abilities like passing through walls (but most new rooms will be VERY dark so it would be hard to suss out details), spectral wind, etc. regular luigi is the one able to catch ghosts though, and regular and ghost forms will often interact in puzzles like a slightly less co-op based luigi and gooigi system

- the first mansion, gloomy manor, is a pretty standard mansion, it’s very old and filled w cobwebs. the boss is a spider-themed ghost, madame moufette. she says the mansions been lost to time and now only the spiders and ghosts live there

- the second mansion, haunted towers, is... actually only a one floor lobby. it’s only when you take the elevator that you realize the entire building is underground and it leads you to a literal icy bunker where an arctic ghost, macready, has spent ages under the bunker and is convinced that a light wielding beast is hunting him down

- the third mansion, treacherous mansion, is a house of illusion, led by a chess-playing ghost named rook. there are stuff like portals, tv static, living suits of armour, the like. rook’s message to luigi is that not everything is as it seems in evershade valley

- luigi comes back from treacherous mansion and gives evershade the third piece of the dark moon, which is when evershade reveals he had the fourth piece of the dark moon all along- and. here’s where things get fucky wucky i’m so sorry

- evershade lifts his goggles and takes off his hat and reveals that HE’S luigi from the future. after the events of mansion 1, luigi eventually decided to become an apprentice to e gadd and became a full time ghost researcher. things don’t seem so different at first but unfortunately e gadd game-overs and so luigi is left all on his own. which is a bummer. with his mentor gone luigi throws himself into his work, neglecting going on adventures with mario to a point that he just stops getting invited... (took mario a VERY long time to stop asking though. make no mistake) over time he becomes a bit of a recluse and his curious and observant nature kinda becomes a hunger for knowledge... he wants to know just what the strange and unusual is and what makes it tick. he also starts using professor evershade as a pen name bc ‘dr mario’ gets people asking about his research for the wrong reasons. though not only does he become more curious but he gets very very bored. ghosts are just poltergeists, tricksters... they’re nothing without a leader. luigi tries to bring back king boo, he invents all sorts of things to try- but the one thing the professor did that he didn’t was invent that damn portrait machine (which has rusted and broken with time- it’s been like, 20-25 years at this point).

- basically, what starts out as ‘i need to bring king boo back so i can have a proper rogues gallery of ghosts to study’ turns into ‘i need to bring king boo back but why would i even defeat him? this is great for paranormal studies’ so yeah. now evershade would like to see the ghost world at its fullest power

- he time travelled back to the past to try and convince e gadd to free king boo (yes he made a time machine hashtag smart) but e gadd fights back, destroying the portrait machine he built. evershade is Angry about this and decides if he won’t help him... perhaps someone else will. his ‘time machine’ is actually a large building that affects all of evershade valley, so it, how it was 20 years into the future, was brought into the past. his backup plan was to trap luigi in evershade valley by turning him into a ghost and making him collect the dark moon shards that he had always wanted but couldn’t get (his ghost researching skills are fine but his ghost hunting skills are out of shape. he could have done that in the first place but he kinda wanted to see his old mentor again.)

- the dark moon itself is an artifact split into four parts bc its effect on ghosts is too much to stand, even for ghosts- it’d give whoever owns it absolute power over the paranormal world and its residents, so the four mansion ghosts have taken it upon themselves to protect them (evershades original plan also involved teaming up with king boo to defeat the ghosts and take the dark moon for themselves)

- (actually, the fourth mansion ghost is polterpup! the dark moon piece WAS in his collar but a certain evershade stole it after the doggy lets his guard down around luigi

- evershade, using the dark moons power, casts a blacklight into king boos painting and finally frees him, offering him ultimate power and ruling over ghosts if they work together as a team. king boo finds this hashtag funny so he’s like ok

- then, luigi gets teleported out of the lab before he can try and stop them. polterpup points him towards where evershades lab has been all along- the fourth and final mansion, old clockworks

- in there luigi finds e gadd being held hostage, where he reveals evershade was trying to threaten him into freeing king boo

- as ghost luigi you also experience side effects of the dark moon in this final dungeon, like controller inputs not working or luigi needing to stop and wrestle off a headache

- so yea... final boss is basically king boo fighting you and evershade cheering him on and you need to counter king boos attacks so that they hit the dark moon and destroy it

- luigi sucks up king boo.... LOL

- evershade is defeated and he doesn’t even have an evil monologue he just kinda stares at luigi unimpressed like ‘really? this is the route you’re taking’ and luigi silently just kinda grabs onto e gadd and whatever toads are in this game. and neither of them say anything

- somewhere in old clockworks a clock goes off, and all the rest of them do too (the one time you hear every clock in sync). fade to white and e gadd and luigi wake up in an empty field where a construction worker asks if they’re ok. pan out to reveal evershade is gone and there’s apparently a construction crew hoping to build four brand new buildings here in this valley

UM THATS IT LOL.... it’s rly overcomplicated i know. i’m sorry.

[creacherkeeper]

im getting a little too in my family feels today and so INSTEAD of feeling those im just going to ramble for a second about why i fucking love paladin!aelwyn because. im. just like this i guess im coping leave me alone

cw for discussions of child abuse, maladaptive coping, drugs and alcohol, self harm, destructive tendencies, basically everything we see in canon and the implications

aelwyn is ... SO interesting to me because for as much of her interiority as we see, as much of her as we think we understand, as much as i could ramble about her character for hours, we know ALMOST NOTHING about her in actuality?? (besides ... one key thing)

(this is like 2k and probably incoherent someone please stop me)

okay. listen. almost everything we see aelwyn do in s1 is maladaptive rebellion against her parents and home life. the drinking, the drugs, the partying, perhaps some of kalvaxus (though i dont think we fully understand how much of that was forced on her as well, kalina WAS watching her when she was talking to adaine about it). you can say like, oh aelwyn is a party animal, she's impulsive, she makes risky decisions, she's bitchy and rude, and its like. okay but IS SHE ACTUALLY. because under her parents thumb she had an EXTREMELY limited amount of freedom, and usually when people are suffering from very little control over their life, they WILL act destructively over the tiny bit they can, either harming themselves or their environment or people lower than them in the pecking order, because in a way, that feels like a reclamation of autonomy. saying "you have so much power over me but can you stop me from hurting myself and destroying what you havent managed to claim yet?". its just like, kind of what human brains do and frequently has little to do with a persons actual personality or impulses, its just. desperate brains trying to control SOMETHING because autonomy is a fundamental human need and when thats taken away we get. very bad off. (this is one big reason eating disorders are SO common with abused kids.) so i think a lot of the s1 aelwyn we see is like. this is a very desperate, abused teenager "acting out" in the only way it is possibly somewhat safe for her to do so because, on a psychological level, the self destruction is weirdly the only emotional tether and its either this or just dissociate all the time (something we do see she has problems with in canon)

and yes, she did treat adaine horribly in s1. she fully did. obviously what we get in canon is what happens but a moment thats interesting to me is in episode 1 where adaine has attacked aelwyn several times, who either does nothing or just bounces it back, when she says "i never cast spells at you" and siobhan immediately retcons it and says "yes you do, all the time" (i havent gone back and watched this bit so i might be wording this wrong). obviously its an improv show and the canon is built between performers as they go, but that was interesting to me. that brennan hadnt intended for her to have fought back in that way. she definitely feeds into the emotional abuse from their parents and participates in all the toxicity there, but we know in canon that she did that because of overwhelming fear and self preservation. and that her self hatred because of it just fed back into the cycle and made her feel like she wasnt good enough to even try to break free from it. this is very common in golden child/scapegoat sibling relationships where the golden child SEES what the parents are capable of and becomes a participant in the abuse out of fear for their own standing. in any way siding with the scapegoat child not only directs abuse at themselves as well, but frequently makes things WORSE for the scapegoat because the parents will take out the challenge to their power on them even more. so, if aelwyn DID ever try to defend or help adaine when they were small, she would have VERY QUICKLY learned that made things worse for everyone. and just. sectioned that part of her brain off, as she's done with so many other things. (and i dont think im reading too much into the forest scene with the abernants to say their parents were VERY QUICK to turn abuse towards aelwyn if she stepped out of line even a little. like, you dont flinch when a hand moves unless. you know. dont need to say it just something to think about. as far as we saw in canon, she had done everything they asked of her leading up to the forest, and we DONT KNOW what happened in it but we do know brennan specifically called out how in broken spirits she was when adaine was summoned, even though they did the ritual to avoid all of the nightmare bullshit)

(the house party is literally a whole separate post but i think its fair to point out that 1) she was super under the influence when that was happening which DEFINITELY is in no way an excuse for her behavior but worth remembering when trying to analyze that 2) her losing that fight did canonically have DRASTIC consequences for her and even if she didnt know exactly how that was going to turn out, i think she knew how bad it might be. and she did not know adaine or any of the bad kids were going to be there in the first place)

all that said, it feels in some ways counterproductive to say that aelwyn is an extremely devoted and protective person (yes we're getting to the paladin shit i know i've been rambling a while) but i think that thats strangely ALL WE ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT HER. because we've established that her self-destructive and abusive behavior in s1 is almost entirely psychologically scripted for her by her parents, we dont know how much of her villain shit in s1 was LITERALLY UNDER THREAT OF DEATH because we know at least killing the oracle was and we dont know how much of the rest of it was mandated by either her parents or kalina other than that she probably was under orders not to tell adaine the truth, and we know participating in all of this caused extreme self loathing in her that she refused to show to anybody and was too terrified to act on in any way

so, like. what does that actually leave us?

here's what we do know about aelwyn:

- of all the schools of magic, she went into abjuration

- the entire bbeg plan from season 1 hinged on aelwyn's complete faith that her level 1 sister was the most prodigious diviner in the world

- right after (?) the house party, she locked her memories where only adaine could find it with a note basically saying "theres so much bad blood between us but i know only you could find this"

- she desperately wanted to protect adaine and the fact that she was too afraid to do so made her hate herself (and her knowing that adaine now knows this is the turning point in their relationship)

- despite everything, even in the nmk forest, she still loved her parents

- the SECOND she is shown genuine love and affection and care from adaine, and adaine says whatever you do, i am here with you, all her actions from there forward are just about protecting adaine from their father, very nearly at the cost of her own life

- with what she probably thought were her last words (and would have been if adaine hadnt given her the tincture), all she wanted to communicate was how to help adaine and the bad kids, and how despite everything she had always believed in her

- at five levels of exhaustion, unconscious, she used her first spell slot after nine months of torture to build a shield around adaine

NOW we get to paladin!aelwyn. because, once everything is stripped away, the abuse and the control and the maladaption and the threats and the torture, EVERYTHING we ACTUALLY can glean about aelwyn's personality and inner core is that she's protective and devoted. and of course classes arent locked by personality, but that just screams paladin to me. its her WHOLE THING. adaine even says "wizards dont have heals, we dont care about other people" and of COURSE that isnt true for either of them, but? mechanically? aelwyn chose the wizard school that DID let her protect, and DID let her help, but i dont think, at this point, going forward, thats really going to be enough for her (and we could also talk about the parallels between them, how often adaine uses her portents to help other people)

i think a lot of the different reads on aelwyn come from this fundamental disconnect between her actions and displayed personality vs who she actually is and what she actually wants. and i think there are very different interpretations of what thats going to look like for her going forward. but i think, for a girl who's most hated characteristic about herself was her self preservation at the detriment of others, her perceived selfishness, and her fear ... isn't choosing to be braver and more selfless and more protective and shedding that self-preserving instinct for the betterment of others ... and MECHANICALLY being able to act on all those things ... the logical next step? i think its going to be a LONG TIME before aelwyn can love herself, but what other way is there to try? if adaine loves her, and adaine believes she can be better, isnt being better because she trusts adaine kind of a form of self love? saying, i dont believe in myself, but i believe in the person who believes in me, and maybe, in a roundabout way, thats the same thing. she was never able to TRY to be better before, because trying to improve even a little, even when people arent watching, when a harmful force has so much power over you and your actions ... like, the mental dissonance is honestly TOO much to even try, thats WAY more terrifying than letting yourself be bad, to the point where thats psychologically impossible for a lot of people. but now she actually has space and freedom and CHOICE and she CAN embrace the instincts she always had to shove down, she CAN be the person she knows her sister needed her to be

i dont know, i think theres an inherent love letter to yourself in wanting to be better and wanting to improve, even if you justify it by saying its for someone else. and now aelwyn actually CAN improve, and thats probably going to be extremely awkward and scary and there will be set backs and backslides for sure. but. i dont know. i think she wants to make up for lost time. because she never wanted the time to be lost in the first place. and if a protector is who she always wanted to be, whats stopping her from being that now?

[violets-arepurple]

Red Snow (How Tommy became a vampire)

It was a cold night and Techno really did not want to be out. Phil had insisted he leave the house for something other to feed, he said it was to make sure the townsfolk weren't suspicious of his presence and when put so practically Techno had no choice but to agree. And that's how he'd ended up in this situation everytime he visited town the kid, Tommy was how he introduced himself, would come and pester him no matter how late at night, no matter how cold. If it wasn't for the kids such obvious humanity Techno would have thought he was just like him. Today, or tonight rather, Tommy was talking about two records he'd found tossed away. "Dont you have parents or something you can pester." Techno hadn't ment to sound so harsh but he hadn't fed in a while and quite frankly Tommy was putting himself in danger just being in his presence. But judging by the unwavering happiness on the kids face he didn't seem too offended. "Of course not big man, they gave up on looking after me years ago." In all of Techno's efforts to play human he'd forgotten just how cruel mortals could be, the idea of casting out a child, even one as excitable as Tommy just didn't sit right with him maybe it was a left over scrap of humanity but he couldn't help feel sympathy for the kid or least that's what he told himself when he left suitable winter clothes in the alleyway Tommy had turned into a home. At this point Tommy had moved on to a different topic something about a cow he'd gotten attached to but Techno was more focused on the stranger eyeing them suspiciously from a pub down the street, for a human he'd be to far away to identify but as someone verifiably not human it wasn't much of a task but that was likely the reason he was being watched Techno thought to himself. Whilst the man himself posed little threat Techno was more worried about the fact that if he was discovered then Phil and Wilbur would also be discovered or at least under suspicion as they were the only ones Techno associated with, well aside for Tommy but the kid was so obviously human that not even a fool could think for a second he was anything but. By now it was late even on Techno's standards so he began to usher Tommy towards the little alley he called home decked out with a thick blanket he didn't need to know the origin of. With that taken care of Techno headed back to the manor in the woods. Another night without feeding he'd have to take care of that soon, find a way to distract Tommy long enough to get a quick meal without the kid ever knowing. A record player perhaps, Techno thought to himself, the kid was quite excited about those discs.

As winter carried on so did Techno's visits to the town no matter how much he insisted he was just checking out new pray Phil would always give him the same knowing look that would cause Wilbur to give a small chuckle at his insistence. It didn't matter that he happened to keep the kid company and it didn't matter that he made sure the kid had food and clothes he was just blending in with the town. So when Tommy didn't immediately run up to him to talk his ear off Techno was suspicious. He went to go investigate Tommy's alley and found it ruined with the records seemingly tossed on the ground clearly someone had attack Tommy but not taken anything of value, the town was also strangely empty. Techno quickly dispelled any notion of another of his kind being to blame, Techno or Wilbur would have sensed them and if they hadn't Phil certainly would have, the town was very clearly their territory and no creature was foolish enough to take on one of them let alone all three. As Techno pondered the situation he heard calls that struck icy fear into his still heart.

"NO PLEASE, I HAVENT DONE ANYTHING"

Techno knew that voice he'd recognise it anywhere, he got closer.

"So the little traitor wants our mercy?" The towns people were gathered in a circle with venom and spite making up it face. "You've sold us all out to that leech, and you expect our mercy! Don't make us laugh" The footprints in the snow where intermingled with blood, Tommy's blood. Tommy's cries grew louder at this point, Techno couldn't see what towns people where doing to Tommy but he knew their intent was to kill. "WHAT LEECH? I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN" Tommy was full on sobbing at this point, his questions only made the people angrier. "WHAT LEECH? WHAT LEECH! THE ONE YOU WERE GOING TO ALLOW TO FEAST ON US, THE ONE YOU BETRAYED YOUR OWN KIND FOR!" Tommy could only gargle at this point, whilst this was happening Techno approached the crowd an icy quite fell over them only disturbed by Tommy's wimpers. Techno was furious how dare they hurt one of his own! How dare they take out their cowardice on him! And how dare they believe Tommy could do something like selling them out, he was a rare light among mortals and they intended to snuff him out. Techno lashed out he didn't know how many died and how many ran away, he didn't care. now it was just Tommy, Techno, and a growing red stain in the snow. And Techno was terrified Tommy was dying and he couldn't stop it, this child who had gone out his way to be kind, this child who was paying the price for a crime he hadn't committed was dying and he couldn't stop it, he didn't even know how to turn him. All Techno could do was gather the boy up in his arms and hold him, try to bring him comfort, make his last moments was kind as possible, kinder than the life the boy was given. Tommy's breathing was shallow all that could be heard was faint sobbing from Techno, blood staining his hands and shirt where he'd tried to help but he couldn't. Tommy was dying and it was his fault. Suddenly a presence was behind him something powerful, something familiar .

"PHIL"

"Hey mate, I got a bad feeling so I came to check on-Oh god.."

When he'd sensed Techno's distress he though they'd been found out and would have to hide for a few centuries. He wasn't ready to find Techno sobbing over the near corpse of a child. He noticed the carnage around them.

"Techno, did you-" Techno's sobbing only got louder as he looked up at Phil.

"Dad, Dad please it's my fault, please he didn't know, it's not his fault, Dad please save him." Techno was begging, Tommy had to be saved he'd give up his own power if it meant he could live.

"Techno calm down what happened"

"Dad please just save him, I promise I won't be irresponsible again, please just help him."

Techno was hyperventilating at this point. It was almost painful for Phil to see the young man he thought of as a son reduced to this state.

"Son I'm not sure what I can do he's pretty far gone." Phil placed a hand on Technos shoulder, he couldn't help but stare at the boy cradled tightly in Technos arms.

"Turn him."

"Techno, I- "

"Phil please, I'll take care off him, anything please" Techno's voice was cracking and he was hiccuping every other word. Phil had no choice.

"Ok, pass him here mate" Techno whispered something in Tommy's ear as he passed him to Phil. Normally Phil would hesitate to turn a human but he had a feeling, that he'd only had twice before, this was the right decision.

[friendshipcampaign]

Session Recap 10/12/19: Prima Materia

In the morning, the party found they had several messages waiting for them from the Gatekeepers. 

Erwyn’s, from Palava, read:

dear erwyn,

we interacted with the raliv mercantile co when we were in veritas. one of a number of individuals promising aid to the city in exchange for increased political clout. spokesperson for the company was huxley emberbraid montfort, a noble from mardros. cant say i liked him much, but i find it hard to like anyone who sees a tragedy as a way to make themselves richer and more powerful. ive heard vilars name but dont know much about her. we were certainly not aware of any infernal ties or we would have warned you and done our best to warn the city as well exclamation point. what information do you have about this cult and its potential ties to veritas question mark. weve all been stretched so thin that we havent been able to do much in the way of preventative investigation im sorry to say. its hard enough to keep up with the active breaches. find out what you can, but do be careful. demons and devils are always out for each others blood, and they wont be picky about who gets caught in the crossfire. 

also, violetta should have mentioned it in her message to voski, but one of our friends has been detecting some increased planar distortions around veritas. it looks like someones trying very hard to start another breach. if we figure out where they are, we should still be able to nip it in the bud, but we think theyve mounted some magical defenses to make it more difficult to pinpoint. keep us informed and watch out for yourself, 

alembic and palava

Ditto had a message waiting for her as well, from Hubris, that elaborated on her research question from before.

ditto, quick research update. 

ive found very little but im going to keep digging exclamation point. everything pre fourth era is pretty spotty of course unless you want to go bothering ozogot the black. plenty of references to the devotion of the citizens of veritas but nearly nothing about what they were devoted to. 

one interesting thing is the account of the gnomish historian gibberty booklore chatterjack penner squirrelchase yapp gallbug townkeeper talltale tallyho prickingbone, whose books were blessed to remain indelible in the face of magic that distorts memories and history. she mentions going to a high temple on her visit to the city and remarks on the devotion of the humans who live there when she visited during the reign of king ulfgar the stern beneath the mountains. when she returned some years later after the third skeleton war, which saw the temporary takeover of the city by the lichlord saerevon, she instead discusses how strange it is that no deity seems able to maintain a strong presence in veritas, and that none has done so as long as anyone remembers. it could be an issue of incorrect or fragmentory histories surviving, but i would focus investigations on the transitional period between the fourth and fifth eras. 

other accounts from the same period suggest that by then worship had transferred to the divine messenger whose image persists to this day, and that the deity themselves was kept secret if not already forgotten. if she was worshiped as a mystery cult theyve done a very good job of covering their records. if her name had already been lost, gibbertys texts suggest that theres something fishy going on. seems that veritas has always been a city of mysteries exclamation point. will keep searching semicolon its time to get into some of the fringe theorists which should be quite a ride. 

cheers, hubris

Finally, Voski also had a message waiting, from Violetta, reading:

kasia, re: karin mordechai

karin mordechai unknown. could be alias or figurehead. provide names and descriptions of associates and i will cross reference them with known entities. note readings indicate increased instability in veritas. spike on night of blomhath twentieth. attempt to identify source and neutralize if possible. can provide backup for strike but not extended investigation.

In preparation for their next plans, Ditto asked Tiktik if they would be alright doing some spying for the group and if she could turn them into a beetle. They told her she would have to bribe them, but they were willing, and she promised them chicken in exchange for their service before transforming them into a small insect.

The party decided that in order to keep the demons watching them from realizing where they had taken Tenny, they would turn Amaranth invisible, then give her the demiplane (with Tenny inside) to take into Grankhul’s Rest to drop the girl off and explain the situation. Once Ditto had cast Invisibility on her, they headed out and started making their way towards the inn -- followed by a large row of demonic pigeons who were keeping pace with them as they went. With the rest of the party keeping them distracted, though, Amaranth was able to break away from the rest of the group and sneak inside the inn.

Inside, she saw Selfish Dann reading a book by the fireplace and decided she’d prefer to have this conversation with the tiefling of the inn’s group. She spoke up once she was nearby, startling him. She explained she was invisible, but that she’d like to talk somewhere private, and he suggested they go to the basement. Once there, Amaranth explained that the party had someone that needed looking after, and they thought the inn’s caretakers would be the best equipped of anyone they could ask to deal with the kind of danger she was in. When Dann asked for details, she explained some of Tenny’s situation, and he agreed they could take care of her.

Amaranth opened the demiplane to see an eclectic arrangement of decor that Tenny had come up with while getting transported. She complimented the girl’s taste and Tenny told her not to let the others make the place boring, if they could make whatever they wanted. Amaranth then led her out to meet Selfish Dann, who promised Amaranth that they would take good care of her. 

After leaving Grankhul’s Rest, Amaranth caught up with the rest of the party. Still invisible, she jumped up behind Kriv and tried to startle him, causing the dragonborn to reflexively elbow her and Erwyn, despite the distance, to startle and slightly jump. Once she had reappeared, the group started to make their way to a place near the exclusion zone, so that Ditto could send Tiktik to fly overhead and see what they could beyond the walls. On their way up she took the chance to gaze through their eyes and got a view of a goopy, black, stagnant lake with things moving below the surface. A group of workers, watched over by burnished metal constructs, were trying to skim algae from the water’s surface. Eventually, Tiktik reported back that they had reached a point above the exclusion zone that had kept them from going forward -- like a painful magical force that repelled them away from it. 

Moving to their next location, the party passed the Blacks’ smithing shop. It had clearly taken damage from the recent attack of bones, but from the sounds inside it seemed to still be operating. They then arrived near enough the workhouse that they could try sending Tiktik inside, though once they had gone in the party kept walking a little so as not to be too near its vicinity. They decided the elephant statue was a good place to casually hang around and parked there for a bit. Kriv pulled out a sketchbook to do a little drawing of it while they waited.

Eventually Tiktik returned, speaking quickly to Ditto about everything they’d just seen. Apparently once they passed the room with the nervous-looking clerk some of the party members had met before, they’d found themselves in a nice office, where a halfling woman was talking to a fire genasi man, the latter fiddling around with some kind of weird fork. After that they had picked up on a weird draft coming from a bookcase that, when they investigated further, had a door behind it, leading to a room with some kind of magic circle on the floor. They then backtracked through the last couple of rooms to make their way to the cell block, which had a door at the end that was being guarded by a large construct that lead to a row of higher-security cells, with thicker walls and more constructs milling about.

With one more destination for Tiktik to snoop around in mind, the party next headed towards the mayor’s house. Tiktik went through the gates while the rest of them kept their distance and waited for them to return. After quite a lot of waiting, though, it became clear that something must have happened, as the familiar never returned. When Ditto tried to summon them back to her, nothing happened. So the group took a detour at Knife’s shop, which wasn’t too far away, where Ditto asked her friend if she could cast the spell to bring them back. Knife let her use his upstairs room to do the summoning.

Ditto brought Tiktik back in cat form and they bounded into her as soon as they’d been summoned. They explained that there had been a wyvern inside the stables behind the Mayor’s house, and it had chomped them before they could get away. The two of them headed downstairs to return to the others and Ditto thanked Knife for the use of his quarters. He assured her they were open to her anytime.

The party’s next order of business was to find a new place to stay for the night. Hoping to follow up on Nilo’s other recommendation, they went to The Pig’s Eye in order to ask Frileg where the Thirsty Sage was, as it didn’t seem to be along Keeper’s Row with all the other inns. She said she knew where it usually was, but warned them to be careful, as it seemed to pop in and out of existence unpredictably. Apparently the place was an old wizard’s tower, now run as an inn by an eccentric goblin, and sometimes people would go in for a night and turn up weeks later terribly confused. She attributed Nilo’s success with the place to his halfling luck.

They followed Frileg’s directions and found that the Thirsty Sage was in fact there for the moment. The building itself had a chimney with multicolored smoke billowing out of it and a heavy metal door which, when they knocked on it, was flung open enthusiastically by a manic-looking one-eyed goblin in a blue robe covered in golden stars and matching hat. The goblin ushered them in and did their best to give a tour, pointing out some of the strange magic paraphernalia decorating the place, but it was deeply clear they had very little idea what they were talking about. The group talked with them for a bit about accommodations, but were still hesitant about the idea. Erwyn and Amaranth in particular voiced concerns about what would happen if they weren’t so lucky in the time department, and in the end, they decided it was too risky and bid the goblin proprietor farewell. In parting, they told the group their name was the Acrimonious Bimbimble.

No extra time had passed when the party emerged, fortunately. They returned to the Pig’s Eye and Ditto asked Frileg if she had any other ideas about places in the city that might be safe to stay. As Ditto rambled, the dwarven woman gave her a glass of ale -- which she largely ignored and Amaranth finished -- but unfortunately her only ideas we either the Slumbering Grell or some boardinghouses she knew were receptive to people on the run from certain things.

The group quietly decided they would just need to find an alleyway or other place to lay low for the night. Amaranth started noting the beggar’s marks she saw on some of the abandoned storefronts in the city, looking for one pointing to a likely spot. There were more empty buildings than usual in the wake of the disaster, with some of the citizens of Veritas having decided to cut their losses and flee, so she soon found a good candidate in a building accessed by an alleyway, with a secure basement behind a shuttered door. On seeing it wasn’t clearly occupied, the party decided it would be where they retreated that evening -- and indeed, decided they would lie low there for a little before meeting with Tress that evening. Tiktik wove their way around the party members as they did, as if to seek attention for having done dangerous things for them all earlier.

As the hour of Candling arrived, the party made their way to Inner Truths for their appointment with Tress. She was waiting for them, petting Palette’s filigreed exterior. She greeted them, saying that the project had been much more interesting than she’d been expecting, and that she thought they might want to discuss things privately. Somewhat suspiciously, Kriv tried a quick Divine Sense, but felt nothing unusual. Her enthusiasm was more familiar, however, to Voski.

Tress lead them to her back room and shut the door. Inside, a table had been laid out with supplies and tools for an experiment: the leaf Erwyn had given her, several different vials, a basin with assorted arcane sigils carved in the top, a houseplant, and another glass vial containing a few flies. She explained that she’d been able to identify a partial transfiguration effect turning parts of the leaf to graphite. She snapped it in half to demonstrate these properties, revealing that it was only the outer shell that had calcified, while the inner layer still consisted of dying plant matter.

She went on to say that that the tincture they’d given her was primarily water with a little alcohol in it, and had the remains of a very low-level light spell on it -- a common practice by snake-oil salesmen to make their product appear magical when it really wasn’t. She then held out a glass vial with the remains of some particulate in it, which was left over once she’d distilled the tincture down, and added that she had absolutely no idea what it was.

Tress said that she’d been testing the properties of the material, using an alchemist’s vessel to multiply the quantity to perform experiments. She said she was going to perform a demonstration of this process, but that the magic would only be in effect for a short time, and asked them to save their “questions, comments, and shocked gasps” until the end.

She scooped some of the particulate onto a small bone tool, added it to the vessel with the sigils, then poured in some water and swirled it around. Taking a leaf from the healthy plant, she dipped it into this compound, where it immediately turned to graphite. She dropped this leaf on the floor and it shattered instantly. Next, she took a dead fly from the bottom of the insect vial and dipped it into the basin as well. There was no effect. She extracted another fly, this one live. When the live fly was dipped into the compound, it instantly turned to graphite the way the leaf had. She then took a leaf from a different vial, where it had been soaking in the remnants of the tincture, and dipped it. This one hardened and turned to graphite as well, but when she dropped it, it didn’t shatter the way the first leaf had. 

Finally, Tress took a small knife. “I did already bleed for this, if there is another volunteer,” she said meaningfully.

Erwyn offered his hand and she pricked it. When his blood mixed with the tincture, it turned to the same graphite substance as the leaf and the living fly had. She looked a bit surprised at this, then turned to Voski.

“Kasia,” she asked. “Are they going to be weird about it?”

Voski reassured Tress her companions could exercise discretion. Tress proceeded to prick her own finger with the knife. A drop of her blood welled up, dark blue-black, and when it hit the mixture in the basin, it didn’t turn to graphite like Erwyn’s had. Instead, it turned to gold. 

The tincture mixture seemed to evaporate from the vessel as the magic effect amplifying it ran out. Tress commented that the demonstration hadn’t been exactly what she was expecting, but she should have assumed there might be more variables.

With questions now open, the party asked her opinion on what might have been in the vials, mentioning the people peddling the tinctures claimed they had ingredients sourced from the elemental planes. She said it was hard to verify that for certain, though the water certainly wasn’t plane-touched, and added that whatever was causing the transformation was highly diluted in the tinctures themselves. She also pointed out that, as had been clear from her demonstration with the leaves, immediate, quick exposure caused the transformation to be more brittle, whereas the prolonged dosage seemed to result in a more stable, gradual process.

The group began to discuss possible motivations behind the revelation. It was obvious that the tinctures wouldn’t persist as a fad if they had such visible negative effects, so diluting the effect ensured a wider exposure for whatever purpose the sellers had in mind. Erwyn pointed out that with everything else going on in Veritas, there were certainly other things people might blame ill effects on, like the background energy from the Abyss all over the city. Ditto also brought up that it was already well-known people were mysteriously going missing, so it was possible some of the worst effects were being hidden. Tress added that at the dosage people seemed to be taking of the tinctures, it would likely take several weeks or even a month or two for them to notice any reaction. She noted, though, that she hadn’t been able to perform any longitudinal studies, and it was always possible that at a certain point the effects could speed up.

Ditto, unable to contain herself, finally burst out asking Tress what her deal was, since her blood had reacted so differently. Tress sighed and replied that she was an air genasi -- underscored by the fact that, where she had cut her finger, there was now smeared makeup revealing blue-tinted skin -- and asked the party not to make a big deal about it. She said that while her blood’s reaction to the tincture was interesting, she couldn’t imagine there were enough other genasi in the city to make it worth their while. Erwyn wondered if it might be a quality of plane-touched individuals in general, and Kriv asked if she would be willing to do the experiment again, looking at Amaranth as he spoke. Tress said she would need another tincture, but was willing, and would be working late that evening if they were able to get one by then.

The party departed for the Pig’s Eye after that. When they got there, Nilo had not yet arrived. Sparrow was there, however, and came over to Amaranth, offering to buy her a drink. Ditto gave Amaranth a surreptitious thumbs-up while Kriv, teasingly, stuck his tongue out instead.

The drow demon who had been frequenting the place arrived soon after, looking somewhat less nervous than she usually did. She took a seat in the corner and beckoned Voski over. At this, Voski ordered the drink with Underdark fruit syrup the demon had recommended to her the night before, then took it and sat down with her to talk.

The yochlol told Voski that she had talked with her Lady and was more comfortable speaking openly now that Voski wasn’t such a stranger. She also said that the Lady had something to ask of Voski, as repayment for granting her blessing -- commenting that it seemed she was having some trouble protecting her “investment” as she glanced over at Erwyn.

She said she and some of her companions had been transporting an item to a city in the Underdark, but had been caught in Veritas when the current situation erupted. She and her companions (several drow, who she feared had perished) were taking a detour through the markets when the portal opened, and the artifact had been lost or stolen in the chaos. She had since been unable to reclaim it or find anyone to assist her in doing so, as it was lost in the exclusion zone and everyone she’d attempted to hire had proven unreliable.

Voski asked if, since they had been caught so off guard, this meant the Lady hadn’t had a hand in the events in Veritas. The yochlol explained that this breach didn’t seem to have been planned by any known power in the Abyss, and whatever had broken through had kept to itself enough that the other demons weren’t certain which layer had even caused it. She also admitted, when pressed, that she too was trapped inside the city by the barrier that was keeping the other demons in. Lolth had other ways of extracting her, but she couldn’t return empty-handed.

Finally Voski asked about the artifact. The yochlol said she was looking for a magical harp, finely constructed and very important to Lolth, as it was used in several rituals down in the Underdark. While it was missing, she could tell it wasn’t destroyed, thanks to her connection to Lolth. 

After explaining that she was hoping Voski could retrieve it, she offered her a silver brooch in the shape of a spider, set with purple and blood-red stones, which she said would signify to other demons that Lolth had a vested interest in her and, perhaps, encourage them to leave her alone. She commented that Lolth found her amusing, and would prefer if she didn’t die. Voski accepted the brooch and tucked it away into her armor, though she added that she didn’t subcontract and would not enlist any of the others to search on Lolth’s behalf. But, since they were headed into the exclusion zone soon enough, she would try to take a look around while she was there.

As she rose to leave, Voski realized they’d never properly introduced themselves to each other and asked the yochlol if there was any name she wanted Voski to call her by. The demon shrugged and said she didn’t see the point. Voski nodded, then invited her to tell her Lady that Voski intended to survive, with or without her help. Then she added that the drink the yochlol had recommended was surprisingly good.

“Right?” the demon said.

Voski returned to the others, who were enjoying the music of the one-armed bard, Meg, who had played there the night before. Erwyn was sipping from another glass of milk, conjured earmuffs from Ditto present yet again, and Amaranth continued chatting with Sparrow until Nilo and Clarity finally showed up. When the pair finally entered the tavern, Nilo was clad in his “work clothes” -- a combination of dark roguish attire and dozens upon dozens of different good luck charms, ranging from onions to holy symbols rubbed with lamp-black so they were less obvious -- and somehow still moving silently. He was clearly ready for crimes.

[p-artsypants]

Rage Awakened (3)

@chachacharlieco @violetstar-writes (If anyone else wants to be tagged in updates, please let me know!)

Ten years ago, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus lost their fellow apprentice, Sora, in Deep Jungle. Now, they are to return with two new students, Riku and Kairi, to lock the heart of the world. All the while, something watches from the trees. Feral!Sora AU

Ao3 | FF.net

That night, Kairi laid awake, thinking. She couldn’t get the strange boy out of her head. If he really was Sora, what were they going to do? Take him back with them?

But ten years alone in the jungle would change a person. Did he even know how to speak? Could he still summon his keyblade?

Would they just have to leave him behind? That didn’t seem fair. Even if he wasn’t Sora, being all alone in the Jungle just didn’t seem right.

When he looked at her, his expression held a lot of emotion. Fear, curiosity, and lot of wonder. How frightening it must have been to see another creature like him, and yet so different.

From her sleeping bag, she looked over at her teammates. Everyone was asleep and all was calm. The fire was still going, though only bright enough to cast a soft light on the immediate area. Crickets and strange animals hooted outside the treehouse, where the moon shone blue light through the windows.

Kairi loved nights like this. It was so different from her days in Radiant Garden, where even the nights had noise of the city, of clanking and whirling machines. In the Land of Departure, the nights were nearly silent from her window high in the castle. This though, this was just perfect. She had been to so many worlds in the last year, traveling with her teammates. Nights like these, where the darkness retreated at the light of the moon, and life persisted.

It was relaxing and comforting. Though the Jungle held many mysteries and dangers, this was a haven.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of feet hitting the floor, though very gently. She glanced to the other end of the treehouse and saw a silhouetted figure, crouched and crawling towards them.

Kairi didn’t move, though she prepared in case he meant harm. Eraqus once said she had a problem with naïveté, and that she often trusted people too quickly. Still, she felt like this stranger meant no harm, for if he was the same boy she had seen earlier, he easily could have left her to die out on the field.

The boy slowly tracked through their camp, his steps imperceivable over the sound of the crackling fire and Terra’s snores. He curiously dug into the first pack he found, which belonged to Ventus. He pulled out a shirt, feeling the fabric and turning it over to examine it. When it failed to interest him, he shoved it back into the bag.

Then he slowly and hesitantly leaned over Ventus himself, studying his face. Then he moved onto the next person.

He peaked in everyone’s luggage, pulling out interesting items to sniff or taste. Though he didn’t actually take anything. Then he sniffed each of her teammates, touching their hair and any armor that was nearby.

It felt like she had been watching him for an hour before he finally made his way over to her. She closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.

She heard him shuffling through her clothes, then heard him sniffling near her ear. She stayed extremely still, keeping her breathing even, as his face drew closer to hers.

It seemed his evaluation of her would be different from the others, since she felt the softest skin against her lips.

Her eyes fluttered open in shock.

Those blue blue eyes stared right back at her, with all the wonder in the world.

She didn’t scream this time, just stared back at him.

Had he just...kissed her?

His eyes widened slightly as a smile took over his lips. He seemed thrilled that he had awakened her.  

Carefully, since he was only inches away from her face, Kairi sat up. He remained close, but followed her movements.

He flicked his eyes over her body briefly, now that she was in pajamas, but continually met her eyes. Likewise, Kairi looked over him, now that he was close and not about to leave.

He had a large leaf on his arm, held in place by mud. It looked like a primitive bandaid. She frowned, and threw off her blankets.

The boy didn’t like the action, and whimpered, thinking she was leaving.

Instead she stood and quietly walked over to their first aid kit. She opted for a potion, so as not to startle him by summoning her keyblade. Then she took her canteen and a rag.

All the while, he watched, curious as to what she could be doing.

Finally, she smiled at him and beckoned him to follow her outside.

He did so eagerly, ever interested in her world.

Outside the treehouse, on the balcony, Kairi knelt and wetted the rag with the canteen.

The stranger was quick to crouch in front of her, immediately in her personal space.

She reached out, her hand hovering over his arm.

He tilted his head, looking at her expression, and then where her hand was. Then he leaned that arm towards her.

Carefully, Kairi peeled off the leaf and began to wipe off the mud. A potion would heal up the wound just fine, but it would have to be clean first.

The boy hissed suddenly and ripped his arm away.

She dropped the rag and held out her hands in a calming way.

Seeing she meant no harm, he slowly reached his arm back out, letting her finish.

Once clean, she offered him the potion.

Instead of taking it, however, he reached his hand out and touched her face ever so gently, then leaned in, unaware of how uncomfortable he was making her.

She couldn’t help but laugh a little, mostly out of nervousness. “Haven’t you looked at me enough already?”

His eyes widened at the sound of her voice, and he gave a silent laugh, like a dog panting, and danced on his toes.

Again, she offered the potion.

He sniffed it, and then gave it a withering glance.

“You drink it,” She pantomimed drinking, and encouraged him to do the same.

So he did, but screwed his face up after at the bitter taste. But then he blinked, feeling the pain in his arm gone. Glancing down, his wound was completely healed, and there wasn’t even a scar. He did his little dance again.

“See? All better!”

He showed his appreciation by swooping in and nuzzling his nose with hers.

She crinkled up her face in response, not expecting the action.

Then he backed off a few inches, his eyes bright, and pleasant grunts coming from his throat.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” Kairi laughed.

He tilted his head to the side. “Wel...come?”

“You can speak!” She clapped her hands in joy.

He mimicked the action. “Speak!”

“Ah, but not very well, I guess.” Still, she touched her chest, right above her heart. “My name is Kairi.”

He glanced at her hand, then her face, and mimicked the action, hand on his chest “Kai...ri?”

“Close.” She took his hand and placed it on her chest, “Kairi.”

Realization hit him. “Kairi!” He patted her heart. “Kairi!”

“Good! Now...” she placed her hand on his chest, right over the ‘X’ scar. “What’s your name?”

He looked at her hand, frowned, and without another word, leapt over the railing and into the darkness of night.

Kairi was left alone, only able to wonder. She touched the tip of her nose, then her lips, and blushed.

—

The next morning, over breakfast, the group talked over their plan for the day. They decided they would split up again, same groups, and travel East and West this time.

Kairi was barely paying attention. After the boy left, she finally was able to fall asleep, even though he had only given her more questions than answers.

“Kai?” Riku asked, noticing how quiet she had been.

“What world’s did Sora like?” She said suddenly.

Terra and Aqua stopped eating and pondered the question.

“Why do you ask?”

“I just...wondered. Maybe there’s a way to find out if it’s really him by bringing back some old memories.”

Aqua considered, “Gosh, I don’t know if there was a world he didn’t like! He was so friendly to everyone...almost to a fault.”

“You know the most important rule of keyblade wielders?” Terra asked.

“We mustn’t meddle in the affairs of other worlds.” Quoted Ventus, like a good noodle.

“Well, he loved to meddle. He always found a way to get in people’s business. Usually, we helped solve problems, but mostly Sora just stuck his nose where it didn’t belong.”

Aqua pondered, “But a favorite world, specifically? Well, he liked The Caribbean. He loved being a pirate and the big ships.”

“He also liked Neverland and flying.”

“And oh! He liked Halloweentown!”

“For Santa?” Asked Riku, like it was the obvious thing in the world.

“Of course for Santa.”

“Aqua, do you remember what world he talked about for weeks after we came back?”

“Um...gosh, we went to a lot of worlds back then. Which one ware you thinking of?”

“Enchanted Dominion.”

“Oh yeah!”

The other three just looked in question. “Where?”

Aqua sighed sadly. “It’s one of the early worlds that fell into darkness. Princess Aurora and Maleficent’s world.”

Riku groaned loudly.

“What’s crawled up your butt, Riku?” Asked Terra at the reaction.

“I hate that bitch so much.” He shook his head. “Sorry for the language but…she’s just the worst.”

“I thought Princess Aurora was nice.” Said Ventus, innocently. Since her world had fallen into the darkness, she had been living in Radiant Garden, along with two other Princesses, Snow White and Cinderella.

“Not Aurora! Maleficent! Geez…”

“She was the one who made you succumb to the darkness, isn’t she?” Kairi asked.

He rolled his eyes, “yeah. Anyways, that’s in the past now. What did you guys do in Enchanted Dominion?”  

“You guys know about Aurora’s curse, right?”

“Let’s say I don’t…” Ventus cringed.

“When she was an infant, Maleficent cursed her to die at the age of sixteen, after she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. Only because of the good fairies did the curse change from death to sleep. And with true loves kiss, the spell would be broken.”

“Well, it must not have come true then, given we saw Aurora a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, it did come true. When we arrived in the world, the curse had already come to fruition. Aurora was asleep in the tallest tower, and the fairies had put the whole kingdom to sleep as well, so no one would worry.”

“That had to be weird to walk into,” Said Riku.

“Extremely.” Deadpanned Terra.

“We wandered around for awhile until we found the tower that Aurora was sleeping in...well, Sora found it. He tried waking her up by tapping her shoulder and going, ‘excuse me ma’am.’ Then the good fairies found us and explained the curse, and that Aurora’s true love, Prince Phillip, was being held prisoner in Maleficent’s Castle.”

Terra laughed, “when Fauna explained that Aurora needed a kiss to wake up, Sora said ‘well, I’ll kiss her!’ He just didn’t understand why it had to be this one guy specifically. It was hard to explain without using the analogy of a key to a lock…considering he’s been able to unlock any door he’s wanted with the same key his whole life.”

“So what did you do?”

“Well, the fairies asked us for our help, since they didn’t want to worry the kingdom, and they led us to the Forbidden Mountain. Sora at least stayed behind at the gate, but he insisted on being part of the adventure. So Terra and I snuck into the fortress and freed Prince Phillip, but we had to fight our way out. And just as we were about to reach King Stefan’s Castle, Maleficent appeared.”

“And she was pissed.”

“I know how that is...” Riku said under his breath.

“The fairies had given Phillip a sword and shield, so he wasn’t completely defenseless...but it wasn’t much help. She turned into this huge dragon!”

“Oh wow, she can do that?” Ventus asked, horrified.

“She’s a witch with the powers of darkness. There’s no telling what all she can do.”

“So you fought her as a dragon?”

“Yeah, and she put up one hell of a fight. And Sora fought valiantly, well, for a...I think he was five at the time?”

“You let him fight?!” Kairi shouted, aghast.

“We always did. How else was he supposed to learn?”

“I don’t know! Somehow less dangerously!?”

“So, what happened?” Asked Riku. “Maleficent is still prowling around, but Aurora is awake. Homeless, but awake.”

“Well, Phillip dealt the finishing blow.” Aqua said.

Terra quoted, “‘Sword of Truth, fly swift and sure. Let evil die, and good endure!’ At least that’s what the spell was supposed to do.”

“But we were all surprised to hear she was back. She’s like a weed that won’t stop growing. We led Phillip up the tower to Aurora, and he kissed her. She woke up, and so did the rest of the kingdom. And they all lived happily ever after…until the darkness came.”

Kairi hugged her legs to her chest, totally invested in the story of young Sora. “So, when you guys came back, he talked about it a lot?”

“Mostly the dragon,” Terra explained. “In our downtime, we would play this game…” He trailed off, and then sighed, remembering.

Aqua laughed. “Oh my god! I remember! We would play this game where…” she caught her breath, “where one of us was the ‘dragon’, one was the ‘Prince’ and then the other was the ‘Princess’. It was basically reenacting what had happened in Enchanted Dominion.”

“Honestly, I loved being the Princess,” Terra said, unabashed. “I actually just slept.”

“The catch was that the ‘Prince’ had to wake up the ‘Princess’ with a kiss. Usually on the cheek or forehead.”

Terra sighed, “yeah, but there was one time where Sora was the ‘Dragon’ and I was the ‘Prince’ and he insisted I kiss Aqua on the lips.”

“Did you?”

The treehouse was quiet as he said quietly. “…yeah.”

Riku and Ventus laughed loudly at his blushing face.

“I know it must hurt,” Kairi said, once things calmed down. “Talking about him again, but it’s really nice to hear about him.”

Aqua smiled, forlorn. “Yeah…full disclosure, if this wild stranger ends up being him, I am going to cry.”

“I had forgotten a lot of this until we started talking about it.” Terra admitted. “It was just…easier not to think about it. I still remember him declaring, quite proudly, that one day he was going to find a Princess like Aurora, one that would wake up with his kiss. I told him it was inappropriate to kiss girls while they were sleeping and he retorted,” he made his voice high pitched and whiny, “but all the other Princes are doing it!”

Something about that statement made Kairi’s heart ache.

“That was over ten years ago, but it doesn’t feel like it.” Aqua said, raising to her feet. “Well, we have a jungle to search, and two things to find now.”

[missjackil]

SPN Did Something Pretty Amazing

One thing I have always liked about Supenatural, is that theyre willing to try things no other shows have done. Most of the time it works, sometimes it doesnt, but theyre not affraid to think outside the box. Things like having a cross-over with Scooby Doo, or episodes like The French Mistake, or Fan Fiction, are great, though theyre doable only because of the premise of the show. In the supernatural world, nothing is impossible. The heros die and come back a lot, old characters come back in various ways, in dreams, time travel, or even as the same character, and this is ok because again, in the supernatural world nothing is impossible. However, this newest amazing thing, at its core, didnt come to pass because of supenatural influence, but because of human actions, and viewer acceptance.  Two brothers and their Angel buddy, adopt an adult orphan son.  Think about that. What show has ever done such a thing? None. In similar cases, like 3 Men and a Baby, Full House, Two and a half Men, there is one defined Father, and then the other men are uncles or support for the one father. But not on SPN, all 3 have been defined as this kid’s father, even though none of them are biologically his father. Even before Luficer died, we saw this beginning. And even stranger still, there were always strong efforts to keep Jack away from his biological father, which is also not a common practice. When dealing with an older child, theres always a “let them chose” clause. But thats never really been the case on SPN, it was always “Keep Lucifer away from this kid” and justifiably so, I might add, but its still strange for TV isnt it? Yet, somehow this all worked. Now, this isnt a debate on who deserves to be Jacks main father, which would obviously be Sam but to just talk about how the show managed to make this happen and be completely accepted by the viewers. 

I work with several SPN fans, though Im the only one who wouldnt really be considered a casual viewer, meaning Im the only obssessed one LOL but the others arent involved in SPN SM on tumblr or twitter, they dont go to conventions and none of them are into shipping. (thats right, it seems most casual viewers dont ship the characters) yet all of them think its cool that Sam, Dean and Cas are Jack’s fathers, none of them think its creepy, incestuous, or gay. One did joke that it sounded like the synopsis of a very bad porno, (2 brothers, and their buddy take in a young adult orphan as their own) but then said that its a very cool concept.  What I think made it work, is everything thats gone down in the last 13 years. I dont care if youre a wincest shipper or not, but theres no closer relationship on the show than Sam and Dean. We know now they are “stuck” with each other, they wont be finding a significant other and building their own family, and even in the end, they’ll be together. Be it on Earth, in Heaven, Hell or the Empty. Also, they have no closer companion than Cas. Whether or not you like the character, canonically, Cas is their best friend that they love as a brother.  Since the show revolves around family dynamics, good ones and bad ones, we’ve seen Sam and Dean in every position. As brothers, sons, cousins, friends, and even as husbands breifly to Lisa and Amelia. we never really got to see them as fathers. The show could have remedied this by having one of their ex girlfriends show up with a kid “Surprize!!” but Im glad they didnt. This would automatically put one brother in the position of Dad, and the other as Uncle and Cas is just that buddy in the trench coat. The way it was done, put all 3 men in a fatherly position that developed over different time lines and circumstances.  Im going to try to break this down in an unbias manner. We can all feel free to disagree with the outcome, but its how the show itself unfolded this little highly unorthodox family. Cas was the one appointed to be Jack’s father. Kelly gave this duty to him when she decided to allow herself to die to let her son be born, and Cas accepted. So it looked as though Cas would be this boy’s father, but as it was, Cas was dead when Jack was born.  Sam came to the plate next. His relationship developed organically with Jack. Some may not have seen it coming, but Sam was determined long before Jack was born, to NOT kill him, but to try to let him be born without the worry that he would be evil. When it was apparent they couldnt take his grace and make him human, Sam knew it didnt mean Jack HAD to be evil. Sam took the role as mentor right away. Caring for Jack and having genuine compassion for him. We were given the hint Sam felt fatherly when they showed him reading a parenting book. (my god that was the cutest thing) So the writers flipped the script and gave Sam a head start in the father field. Also, with Sam being first, it added this layer of beauty, because Sam fell in paternal love with the son of his torturer. He wasnt enlisted, or pushed, it just happened, and thats beautiful. Dean came last, and as a story teller, I can see why they chose this route. It had been established since S1 that Dean is good with kids and naturally paternal. To have him be the first “father” would leave Cas and Sam on unlevel ground through lack of experience. For Dean to follow up second from Cas, would make it too shippy, and Sam would probably never make it out from under the  “uncle” title. and wouldnt we always wonder if Sam held a little resentment inside? Jack being the son of Lucifer for starters, and Dean taking him in as a son? Over the seasons, Sam has made it very clear, he never wants to be #2 in Dean’s eyes, and this could bring around some bad brother drama.  Dean starts off hating Jack. Indeed he was way too nasty to him in the beginning. Not even gonna debate that, but for Sam, Dean gives the kid a shot. He discovers that yes, Jack is a good kid and now Deans natural paternal side clicks on. And keep in mind he didnt try to step onSam and take over. Yes they showed Dean and Jack bonding more than they did Sam, but he didnt take over. He made sure taking Jack out was ok with Sam, so did Cas. They both respected that Sam has been Jacks primary care giver since day 1, and Sam isnt selfish or possessive (over anyone/anything else besides Dean) so Sam is happy to share Jack so he can have as much positive influence as he can.  So I give TPTB credit for coming up with this formula, my only complaint being that they didnt need to make Dean as hateful as he was, they could have just made him hessitant and standoffish at first and that would have been enough but it is what it is, and that part is over thank Chuck. Now, most of us knew the “3 dads” thing was coming because the cast talked about it a lot, but those of us who dont follow the cons and interviews, still were pleasently surprised that this came about. I havent heard anyone complain that its creepy, even though if you tell someone whos never seen the show “On my show, the 2 brothers and their friend adopted an 18 yr old kid” they’d look at you funny.  We complain about the writers all the time because they do screw up a lot, but I like to give them credit when I can. This is one of those situations. They made something that seems creepy on the outside, not only acceptable, but wonderful, simply by how it was written. I feel the same way about how they handled the return of Mary. It didnt pan out as well as it could have, and thats really a whole other meta, but Im glad they didnt take an easy route with her making her a zombie, or Super Mom and put her in a really human position of a mother meeting her adult sons for the first time, but Ill save that for another post :)

[rosapeachhogwartsmystery]

Potions equals Love? (Hogwarts Mystery Imagine)

Masterlist  (To view my Masterlist, visit my Tumblr page)

Words: 4197

Pairing: fem! Rowan Khanna x Merula Snyde

Summary: You and Rowan have to switch partners in Potions. Rowan has become partners with Merula. You don’t know why, but Rowan has changed after that. What is going on?

A/N: Originally I was going to write another fem!reader x Barnaby Lee imagine, but I decided to do something different for once. I’m also trying to write and understand Ben’s character a little better, so I can also write imagines about Ben.

_________________________________________________

“Miss Khanna and Miss Y/L/N. You are going to work with someone else this year.”

 You raised an eyebrow when Professor Snape told Rowan and you to work with somebody else this year. “But Professor, we have been partners for the last three years.” Rowan said, thinking it would be strange to work with someone else than you. “That is exactly why you have to switch.” He said. “It will be good to see if you are capable of brewing a good potion with different partners.” He said. “So, Miss Khanna will be working with Miss Snyde this year.” “What?” Merula said, frowning a little. “What if I don’t want to work with Khanna?” She said, not liking the idea. “Well, then you will just have to deal with it.” He told them. “You both seem to be decent brewers, so it shouldn’t be much of problem.” He said before he looked at you. Rowan and Merula looked at each other, glaring a bit. You just hoped they wouldn’t kill each other during potions. The only thing you wondered was who you had to work with.

 “Miss Y/L/N, you will work together with Mr. Lee.” Snape said. You blinked when Snape said that. It wasn’t like you didn’t like Barnaby, but he wasn’t the best student to work with during potions. You knew how often Snape would call Barnaby stupid in his class and the boy was Slytherin for Merlin’s sake! You wondered if Snape did this to make things harder during class. Perhaps he wanted you to fail? “Mr. Lee, perhaps having a partner like Miss Y/L/N could help you with brewing something more decent.” Snape said. Barnaby smiled awkwardly, having the feeling Snape was probably insulting him. You slowly moved over to sit down next to Barnaby, wondering if things would be going alright this year. “So, I guess that mean will be partners this year.” You said softly, giving Barnaby a small smile. “Yeah, I guess.” He said, smiling back.

You were going to brew a Poison Antidote this class and you had to keep a good eye on Barnaby. You would often point to the book when he was about to do something that wouldn’t end up well. You knew this was going to be hard and you didn’t want to make Barnaby feel like he was incapable at brewing potions. Once Snape was looking at your work, you thought you could see a hint of satisfaction in the eyes of the Potions Master. You suspected Barnaby and you were doing alright with brewing the potion. You thought you two were doing better than Merula and Rowan. You could hear the two bickering and you wondered if they would be doing this alright. You knew Merula still didn’t like you nor Rowan, but that didn’t mean the Slytherin wanted to fail this class.  You shook your head at the sight of Rowan and Merula trying to work together, thinking it was obvious that they weren’t getting along with each other at all.

 Once Potions was over Barnaby gave you another smile. “Thanks, Y/N. With your help I might be able to pass Potions this year.” He said. “No problem. If you want I could help you with studying.” You suggested. “That would be great. Perhaps I could help you with Care of Magical Creatures in exchange.” He said. “That would be helpful.” You said with a smile. You were about to walk out of Potions when Snape suddenly walked over to you. “Miss Y/L/N, may I have a word with you?” He asked. You nodded, wondering what he wanted from you. Once you were alone with Snape in his classroom, he spoke up. “You might be the first partner that helped Mr. Lee understand what he was doing in class.” He said. You blinked, wondering why he would say that. “At first, I thought Miss Haywood would be a good partner for Mr. Lee, but I was wondering how capable you were without Miss Khanna’s help in class.” He said. “It seems like you are pretty capable of brewing a decent potion without Miss Khanna’s help.” He said. “Five points to Y/H.” You blinked when Snape gave you house points for that. “Thank you, Professor.” You said, still looking surprised. “You are dismissed.” He said.

 You quickly left the classroom, wondering if Snape started to dislike you less this year. Perhaps this year would start more smoothly this year. You knew Patricia Rakepick would probably make things a little more difficult for you, but perhaps the teachers would finally stop looking at you like you were exactly like your brother. It would be great if the teachers saw you as someone else than your brother. Being reminded of your brother didn’t help you. It was one of the reasons why you didn’t like going home for the holidays. Your family was still dealing with Jacob’s disappearance and you wanted to be your own person. You wanted your family to be proud of you and you can’t do that if they think you are going to do the same things as Jacob. Hopefully, you would find your brother while secretly looking for the Cursed Vaults. You do not really care what is inside the Vaults, you just want your brother back. Besides you could probably learn a lot from the experience.

 To be honest, you were also curious about breaking the curses on the vaults. You thought Rakepick’s job was very interesting and perhaps it would be something you would consider doing in the future. You weren’t sure though, because there were a lot of jobs that seemed to intrigue you. Becoming a healer was also interesting after you helped Madam Pomfrey. Maybe being an Auror was interesting as well. You weren’t sure and you still had some time to figure out what you wanted to do with your life. You were only fourteen after all. You sighed and then you walked towards the Great Hall.

 Once you entered the Great Hall you shook your head. Merula was standing near the table your friends sat at and it didn’t look pretty. She was yelling about something and you quickly made your way over to the table. “What’s going on?” You asked, raising an eyebrow at Merula. “None of your business. This is something between Khanna and me.” She said, glaring at you. “And you decide to do that in front of everyone else, Snyde? Sounds like you have thought everything through.” You said, rolling our eyes at her. “Shut up, Y/L/N.” She hissed. You looked at Rowan, who was definitely angry at Merula. “Don’t you have to sit somewhere with Murk?” You asked. Merula groaned. “This isn’t over yet, Khanna!” She said when she stormed off.

 “Seriously Rowan, what happened during Potions?” You asked, sitting down next to Barnaby and Ben. Rowan looked annoyed. “Well, we both wanted to brew the potion correctly, but she didn’t want me to add anything to the potion think I would ruin it. So, I didn’t let her touch the cauldron either. Well, except when Snape walked past us… This was the worst class ever.” She muttered. “Well, it would be easier if Snape didn’t let you work with her, but I’m sure both of you want to pass this class. You will have to work together.” You pointed out. Rowan softly banged her head against the table, groaning softly. “I know! I know I have to work with her well if I want to pass, but can you blame me for not trusting her?” She said. “I don’t blame you for that at all.” You said. “I don’t think I would be able to survive working with Merula to be honest.” You said with a shrug.

 “I do know Merula is pretty good at Potions.” Barnaby said. “She would sometimes help me with my homework when I was friends with her.” He said. “What has that to do with this?” Rowan asked. “Well, I thought it would be nice to know your partner is good at brewing potions, so you two would be able to brew things pretty well.” He said. “Perhaps she is good at it, but I haven’t seen any of her skills today.” Rowan muttered. “I think Barnaby is trying to say you both are good at it and you would be able to brew something really good if you work together.” You said. Barnaby nodded, letting you know you have said that right. “Well, maybe one of you should work together with her next time.” Rowan said before she stood up and stormed off. She was pissed at everyone because of Merula. You sighed softly. Maybe it was better to leave Rowan alone today.

 “Man, I think I pissed her off.” Barnaby said, looking a bit guilty. “It’s not your fault. Merula and Rowan just don’t get along.” You told him. “Well, that isn’t Rowan’s fault. I mean, Merula was always threatening everyone.” Ben said. “That is true. Merula just wants to prove she is the best and if she needs to threaten people she will do that.” You said. “You don’t seem to be that bothered by Merula anymore, Y/N.” Penny said. “That’s because I won’t let her get under my skin. She knows that by now. I guess she thinks I’m a boring target now.” You said with a giggle. “I wish I could do that. Merula kind of terrifies me.” Ben said. “I think most people think Merula is terrifying.” Barnaby said with a grin. “As long as you don’t show it, she won’t have the power to threaten you.” You said. “I mean, come on! She is the same age as us. Merula is good at things, but you are more gifted at Charms, Ben. And Barnaby can cast more powerful charms than Merula. Just like Penny is more gifted at Potions.” You pointed out.

 “I see it this way. She might be good, but everyone has great talents of their own. Using your talents could help you outsmart her or just outdo her.” You said with a smile. “You are really positive this year, Y/N.” Ben said with a grin, looking more at ease. “I suppose I’m just having a good start this year.” You said. “Y/N has the talent to give good pep-talks.” Barnaby said with a chuckle. “I agree with that.” Ben said. “Please, I’m not that good at giving pep-talks.” You said, rolling your eyes. “Well, most of the time you manage to cheer someone up.” Penny said with a smile. “Except for Rowan now.” You said. “Well, she needs to blow off some steam. So, it was a good decision to let her go for now.” She said. “We can’t solve all problems immediately.” Ben said honestly. “It would make life less complicated though.” You said with a small grin.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After two months you noticed Rowan was acting really different. You didn’t understand what was going on, but she seemed to be happier in some kind of way. She did spend less time with you and your friends. Also, the bickering in Potions Class seemed to cease. You thought Merula and Rowan were working very well. You were surprised by the change, but you didn’t let yourself get distracted by that. You still kept an eye on Barnaby, but he seemed to have improved over the months as well. He worked really hard to pass this class. He became more confident at Potions and it made you happy. You thought Snape might have made the right decision to let you switch partners this year. You didn’t know how much you had relied on Rowan the past few years. You had definitely relied on her a lot more than you thought, because you sometimes weren’t sure either. It made you more confident as well. This partnership was good for Barnaby and you.

 Rowan wasn’t in the Great Hall that evening. You wanted to find out where she was at. She was acting strange and you just needed to know what was going on. You looked at Ben and Barnaby. “Do you guys want to find Rowan with me?” You asked. Ben raised an eyebrow and Barnaby looked a little confused. “Why do you want to find Rowan?” Ben asked. “She is acting strange and I want to know what is going on.” You said. “Do you think it has to do with the Cursed Vaults?” He asked. You shook your head. “No, the Cursed Vaults are leading students to the Forbidden Forest. As far as I know, Rowan hasn’t gone there. Besides, she is not in a weird trance like all those other students were that were caught by the teachers.” You explained. “Still, I still want to know what is up. Aren’t you wondering why she isn’t spending as much time with us as she used to?” You asked. “Well, I have nothing better to do. So, count me in.” Barnaby said. Ben looked at Barnaby and blinked. “You are going to help Y/N find and spy on Rowan?” Ben asked. “Well, yeah…? I guess I will help her with finding and spying on Rowan.” Barnaby said with a shrug.

 Ben sighed. “Fine, I will come as well. Just because you two are making me worried.” He said. “Great Ben!” You said with a smile. “If nothing is going on then I will return to my Common Room though. I don’t like the idea of spying on someone.” He said nervously. “Don’t worry, Ben. You will be fine.” You told him when you stood up. Ben and Barnaby stood up as well and the three of you began walking out of the Great Hall. The three of you had to look around very carefully, because you weren’t sure where Rowan was at the moment. You checked the library and also the Common Room, but she wasn’t there. Once you walked outside you wanted to give up, but there she was. Rowan walking around the Castle Grounds. You weren’t sure where she was going though. You gave Barnaby and Ben a look to be quiet and then you began to follow Rowan.

 You made sure the three of you were not seen by Rowan. You just needed to make sure where she was going. Time passed by slowly and you didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Once Rowan stopped walking, you, Barnaby and Ben hid somewhere. The three of you kept an eye on Rowan the whole time, wondering what she was doing out here. It didn’t take too long to figure out what Rowan was doing outside. Merula walked up to Rowan with a smile. “Well, hello there Khanna.” She said. Rowan grinned. “Also hello to you, Snyde.” She said amused. You were confused when you heard them saying that. Why did they act so friendly? What was going on. Merula took a step closer to Rowan, running a hand trough Rowan’s hair. “This could all be a lot easier if just told people about this.” Rowan said, blushing a bit. “That might be so, but that would ruin both our reputations, wouldn’t it?” Merula said, pulling Rowan close. “Let’s just enjoy this moment.” She whispered before she began kissing Rowan.

 Your eyes widened. Did Merula just kiss Rowan and did Rowan kiss her back? You couldn’t believe it. How did this happen? How did they become a thing? Merula and Rowan like each other? You looked at Ben, who was baffled by what happened. Barnaby was confused and he turned to you, unsure what to think about it. You signed to get away from here. You could swear you heard Rowan and Merula kissing when the three of you sneaked away. You three couldn’t be seen by them, especially because you understood why they would keep it a secret. You might have said they would be good at Potions together, but you never thought this would happen. You weren’t sure if you should confront Rowan or not. This could be a bad thing for the Cursed Vaults. What if Rowan told Merula about everything they discussed about the Cursed Vaults? No, she wouldn’t…  Would she? You weren’t sure what to think about this anymore.

 Once the three of you were back the castle you looked at each other. “Merlin...! W-what was that?” Ben said, still surprised by what happened. “Merula and Rowan kissed each other.” Barnaby said. “Yes...! That is the problem.” Ben said, panicking a little. “Ben is right… This is a problem. I mean, what if Rowan told Merula about the Vaults?” You said, frowning a little. “Do you really think Rowan would do that?” Barnaby asked. “You know what they say about love. Love makes people blind, she might have said things. I cannot be sure about it though.” You said. “What are we going to do about this?” Ben asked. “I think I might need to talk to Rowan tonight.” You said. “What are you going to say? ‘Hey Rowan, Ben, Barnaby and I have seen you kissing with Merula.’ She will definitely get angry.” Ben said. “I will tell her I have seen her. You and Barnaby only came with me because I asked you to. I won’t tell them you two have seen them kissing.” You said. “Are you sure, Y/N? I mean we agreed to come.” Barnaby said concerned. “I’m sure, don’t worry about it.” You told them.

 “Thanks for coming along with me.” You said with a smile. “I will wait for Rowan in the dormitory.” You told them. They nodded. “No problem, Y/N.” Barnaby said with a smile. “Tell us about your talk with her tomorrow.” Ben said. You nodded and gave them both a smile. “I will tell you two. Good night.” You said and then you both gave them a kiss on the cheek. They blushed and you gave them a wink before you left. You walked towards your Common Room, slowly becoming more serious again. Once you were in your dormitory you sat down on your bed. You would just sit there, waiting for Rowan to walk into the room. Of course, it took a while before Rowan entered the dormitory.

 “Did you have a fun evening?” You asked. Rowan jumped in surprise, being startled by you. “Merlin, Y/N, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She said before she took a deep breath. “That doesn’t answer my question.” You said seriously. Rowan blinked a bit. “What are you talking about?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know. You tell me.” You said, not taking your eyes off her. “I just went out for a walk.” She lied. You rolled your eyes. “Sure, a walk.” You said, not believing her at all. “And did that walk include Merula?” You asked. Rowan gasped. “What did you see?” She asked, sounding a little angry. “Just you and Merula… You know, snogging each other. Seemed like you have had a lot of fun.” You said. “You saw that?” She asked. You nodded and she slowly became angry. “Did you spy on us? Y/N, why would you do such a thing?” “Because you don’t talk. You were acting strange and I wanted to know what the bloody hell was going on.” You said, becoming angry yourself.

 “It is none of your business what is going on between Merula and I.” Rowan yelled. “It is my business, because it is Merula Snyde we are talking about.” You said. “What are you worried about?” She asked. “That you are telling her about the Cursed Vaults. I already have to look out for Rakepick and certainly don’t want to look out for one of my best friends as well.” You said, frowning a bit. “I would never tell Merula about what we know about the Cursed Vaults!” She said. “Good, that is what I wanted to hear.” You said and then you sighed. “I don’t care what you do with Merula as long as you don’t talk to her about the Cursed Vaults.” You said. “Maybe, we could use her expertise…?” She suggested. “Yeah, because everyone in the group would love Merula to join us.” You said sarcastically. “Ben is terrified of Merula and Tulip hates her guts. If she would join us it would cause a lot more problems.” You said.

 “Then, I will tell them.” Rowan said. “I mean, if I explain it, maybe they will understand?” She mumbled softly. “Good luck with that.” You said, getting in your bed. “Y/N…” She said. “Good night.” You muttered, closing your eyes. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t trust Merula enough to let her help you with the Cursed Vaults. It wasn’t like you were against the relationship, but you were afraid about the Cursed Vaults. What if she would betray you all? All you wanted to do is to find your brother. If something went wrong you would never forgive yourself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You began spending more time with Barnaby and Ben, trying to avoid Rowan a bit. You just didn’t know what to think about everything. You had talked about it with Barnaby and Ben, but they didn’t seem to know what to do either. You wanted to be happy for Rowan, but you didn’t know what would happen. No one can help but to fall in love, but that didn’t mean you could have no doubts. You kind of felt bad for avoiding Rowan, but you weren’t sure if you would say nice things to her now. Avoiding her seemed like the better option now. It might not be the best option, but at least you didn’t have to think about what you would say to her.

 “Y/L/N.”

 You turned around. Merula was standing there, looking annoyed. “We need to talk.” She said. You raised an eyebrow. “What do you want, Snyde?” You asked. “Not here, somewhere more private.” She said. “Fine.” You said before you followed her to a more private place. You didn’t say anything when you walked over there. You didn’t know what you could say to Merula. You guessed she wanted to talk to you, because of Rowan. You just hoped this conversation wouldn’t turn into a violent one. Merula and you just didn’t get along, because she didn’t want that in the first place. You disliked her for threatening you and your friends. You just knew how to deal with a lot better though.

 Once you were somewhere more private you gave Merula an annoyed look. “So, what is it, Snyde?” You asked. “I want to talk to you, about Rowan.” She said. “Oh, you two are on first name bases not.” You mumbled. “Shut up, will you.” She hissed and then she took a deep breath, like she was trying to calm herself down. “Look, Rowan told me you were worried about her telling me about the Cursed Vaults.” She began. “I haven’t asked her a single thing about the Cursed Vaults.” She told you. “And I should believe you because…?” “Because I’m dating your best friend.” She said. “I don’t like the fact you are avoiding her.” She said. “If you think I’m avoiding her because you are dating her then you are just partly right. I don’t give a damn about your relationship with her. If she is happy then I’m okay with it. I’m just not okay that you are obviously trying to find the Cursed Vaults as well. I already have to look out of Rakepick now. If Rowan would tell you stuff, then it would mean you are going to be a bigger threat.” You said seriously.

 “Rowan knows how to keep a secret. I’m not going to force her to tell me what she knows.” Merula said seriously. “I don’t know why you keep looking for them though. You could end up just like your bro-.” “Don’t you dare to talk about my brother.” You said seriously. “I’m looking for the vaults to find him. That is it! Nothing else.” You told her. She held up her hands in defence. “Okay, calm down. I get it. You just want to find your brother.” She said. “But seriously. I think we should try to get along, for Rowan.” She said. “You want to get along with me?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. “With you and your friends, even the mud- I mean muggleborn ones.” She said seriously. You kept your eyes on her. “You are actually serious…?” You asked. “Of course I am! Why else would talk to you about this?” She said.

 “Fine.” You said. “Excuse me?” “I said ‘fine’. We are going to try to get along. For Rowan, nothing else.” You said. “Good.” She said. “Should I tell her?” She asked. “Yes, you should.” You told her. “If she wants to talk to me tell her she can talk to me.” You said. She nodded and was about to walk away. “Oh, Y/L/N?” She said. “Yes?” “Thank you for doing this. I’m sure Rowan will appreciate it.” She said before she walked away. You stood there for a little longer and sighed. Hopefully things would get less complicated now.

[brynwrites]

Ask compilation time again!

Topics covered:

Writing experiences you haven’t had yourself

Nonbinary characters

Figuring out how many novels your plot requires

When you get stuck on an idea

Finding your target audience

Token diversity 

Also:

I promise to (attempt to) tag spoilers

Something I can’t even fathom

A nice message, but not from a moose, unfortunately

I haven’t updated my ask queue page, so if you don’t see your ask there then it’s probably collecting dust in my inbox xP

Writing experiences you haven’t had yourself

Anon asked: I’m currently writing a story and a secondary character is someone who has been abused. I’ve done lots of research and I’m continuing to do so (reading psychology reports, peoples own experience, whatever I can find) as I haven’t gone though the abuse my character has but someone recently told me I shouldn’t write this character because I haven’t gone through it myself. I don’t want to through this character away because he plays a massive role in the development of my mc. Any advice?

1. Ignore this person. They probably mean well but they aren’t helping anyone by gatekeeping. 

2. Try to find beta readers who have a close connection to the the abuse this character faces or who have also done large amounts of research so they can double check things for you.

Nonbinary characters

Anon asked: I want to write a novel with a non binary protagonist, because I feel like it would really fit them and the plot, but I don't really know much about non binary identities. Could you maybe explain a few of them...? I just feel like this question is better answered by a nb person. I've been thinking about making them genderfluid, but I don't know if that would be fitting.

In all honesty, nonbinary people don’t tend to fit in their labels well. Within any given NB label, presentation, pronouns, and more varies drastically. There’s really no wrong way to write a nonbinary character as long as they act like any other fully formed human being. This wiki site has some basic definitions, and these two posts [ x | x ] I’ve written recently cover more.

One thing I will say here though is this: Nonbinary people are not made up of anything different from binary people -- they have the exact same brains which grant the same strengths and flaws and loves and fears and everything else that humans experience -- and therefore they’re the right characters for any plot, setting, genre, etc. That’s not to say that we as writers don’t often get feelings that certain characters have a particular identity or so on, but I see a lot of times were someone thinks a story is right for a nonbinary protagonist particularly because there’s something plot relevantly ‘weird’ with the protagonist's gender or gender expression. Nonbinary characters should not be limited to stories where their nonbinary-ness is a important to the story. 

Figuring out how many novels your plot requires.

Anon asked: How do you know if your plot will be enough for a novel or multiple novels (even after outlining)?

1. How many climactic peaks does it have?

2. How many distinct character development arcs does it have?

Each novel needs to rise in tension until reaching the climactic point, in which the character fulfills or denies their development. At the start of the next book, the tension may or may not fall quite a lot. If instead, you have a dramatic fall of tension somewhere in the second half of act two, that’s no good, nor is having a character arc which ends at any point prior to the climax. 

Learn more splitting up a series into individual books. Learn more about character arcs.

When you get stuck on an idea

Anon asked: Hi! I have this problem when I write something I get stuck on something and don’t see other options, for example, if my first idea for some story is to start it with description of morning I will stick to it and will rewrite it over and over again but don’t even consider and option to start is somehow else. I hope it doesn’t sound strange and that you can understand it. So how to start seeing other options and not get too attached to something?

Whenever you go to rewrite anything for the first few weeks/months (depending on how often you’re rewrite things), stop and brainstorm at least five other options you could use in place of rewriting whatever you originally had. Don’t let yourself rewrite the original until you have these five options written down. 

To challenge yourself further, every few times you do this brainstorming, write out one of these new options in full instead of rewriting the original concept, even if this means you have to write entire chapters you won’t end up using. You’ll learn a lot by making yourself move outside your comfort zone and eventually your brain will start to do the brainstorming on its own. 

Finding your target audience

Anon asked: Hey I'm sure this could apply to writing as well but I'm currently writing a webcomic and as much as I want to advertise it on my blog I'm not sure if people would be interested because overall it's about teenage life, nothing more nothing less and I'm not sure how interesting of a concept that is to anyone. I also started out as a fandom blog and I'm pretty sure a lot, if not all of my followers followed me because I post about the fandom and nothing else.

Every concept is interesting to someone. I don’t know which fandoms you focus on with your fandom blog, but I would suggest looking for fandoms for contemporary YA books (on the ‘less romance’ scale) and similar slice-of-life teen-oriented stories, and connecting with the people in those fandoms on a personal level, because they will be your target audience. 

They will almost certainly only follow you for the fandom blogging unless you become friends with them. Genuine friends who are also your target audience will support your original work to hell and back, and they’ll form a platform for you which other people will be more willing to climb on once they see your original work is already being adored by others.

Token diversity 

Anon asked: Hello! What are some ways to tell apart checklisting from being diverse? Like, putting in POC and mogai characters just to say you did and earn brownie points from the audience? I appreciate the input, thank you <3

My general opinion is this: If you (and the groups represented) can’t tell that diversity is being shoehorned into a book for the sake of brownie points, then it’s diversity, no matter what the author meant it as.

If it’s a well researched and positive representation and it does good for the people it represents, then it’s good.

Working backwards from this definition, some things which might trigger alarms would be:

The use of negative stereotypes.

Diverse background characters supporting an able-bodied cishet white cast.

Members of the represented group telling you that the diverse characters from their group are bad representations.

Diverse characters being less fleshed out or more commonly killed off compared to the other characters.

Tagging spoilers

Anon asked: Friend, could you tag incoming spoilers please, I havent yet got to read these latest Riordan books and wanted to keep whatever queer stuff would be there for a surprise, and whoever the character would be as well

Sorry about that! I will try to tag spoilery content better in the future.

I can’t even fathom

Anon asked: How old are you? Boy or girl?

Excuse you, I'm an immortal Norse trickster deity (without the bestiality), and you do not ask deities their age, thank you very much.

Definitely not moose

@isnotmoose​ said: Hi, Bean! This isn't a question, I just wanted to say hi and hope you were having a good day (or night) :) I also love your blog, it's super helpful!

I’m not sure if you’re calling me a bean of if that was an auto-correction, but either way I approve this message very much. You have a wonderful day/night yourself! <3

[patriotsnet]

Can Republicans Vote In Sc Democratic Primary

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/can-republicans-vote-in-sc-democratic-primary/

Can Republicans Vote In Sc Democratic Primary

The Presidential Primary Will Not Use The Familiar Top Two Ballot

Republicans launch Operation Chaos 2020 ahead of SC Democratic Primary

California voters can be forgiven for assuming that political party registration doesnt really matter.

In 2010 voters backed a measure to create the states nonpartisan top two election system, in which all primary voters fill out a ballot with every candidate on it regardless of either the voters or the candidates political party. The top two winners then move on to the general election ballot even if theyre both from the same party.

In races for state legislative and congressional seats, the top two method will still reign on the 2020 ballot.;

But when you vote in the presidential primary, its back to the old partisan system: Democrats on the Democratic ballot, Republicans on the Republican ballot, and so on.

So while voting in California usually goes like this under the top two:

In the presidential primary, it looks a little more like this:

Sanders Warns California Primary Could Disenfranchise His Independent Base

OAKLAND Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders charged Friday that Californias primary system threatens to disenfranchise millions of independent voters whose support he has cultivated in the nations most populous state.

Sanders said Friday during a press conference in Santa Ana that he and his team have been campaigning hard to reach Californias 5.3 million no-party-preference voters, who now represent the second largest voting bloc in the state at 25.9 percent ahead of Republicans, who comprise 23.7 percent.

But in California, where voting has already started ahead of the March 3 election, the Vermont senator said hes concerned that independents are not yet turning out in large numbers.

Each party establishes its own presidential primary rules. In California, Democrats allow independents to participate if those voters request a Democratic ballot, while Republicans have a closed system that requires voters to re-register with the GOP.

Unfortunately, under the current NPP participation rules, we risk locking out millions of young people millions of young people of color and many, many other people who wanted to participate in the Democratic primary but may find it impossible for them to do so, he said. And that seems to me to be very, very wrong.

Sanders himself has long been registered as an independent while serving in Congress, but he caucuses with Democrats and has filed as a Democrat to run twice for president.

How Are Presidential Primary Elections Conducted In California

Qualified political parties in California may hold presidential primaries in one of two ways:

Closed presidential primary only voters indicating a preference for a party may vote for that partys presidential nominee.

Modified-closed presidential primary the party also allows voters who did not state a party preference to vote for that partys presidential nominee.

If a qualified political party chooses to hold a modified-closed presidential primary, the party must notify the California Secretary of State no later than the 135th day before Election Day.

Voters who registered to vote without stating a political party preference are known as No Party Preference voters. For information on NPP voters voting in a presidential primary election, please see our webpage on No Party Preference Information.

Recommended Reading: Are There More Rich Republicans Or Democrats

Effort Underway To Get Republicans To Vote In Sc Democratic Primary

GREENVILLE CO., SC One Upstate group is working to get Republicans to vote in the South Carolinas Democratic primary on February 29.

Karen Martin, the organizer of Trump 2-29, said the group is encouraging Republicans to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders in Februarys primary.

GOP leaders in the Upstate say, the effort is designed to make a point about open primaries.

Trump 2-29 is set to announce their plans during a news conference at Greenville GOP headquarters Thursday morning.

GOP chairs from five counties, and leaders of the Tea Party activist group plan to attend the announcement.

Following the announcement, the group plans to spread their message across Republican social media pages and conservative talk radio shows.

Republican party officials voted in September 2019 to cancel the GOP primary. Party leaders said the cancellation will save taxpayers over $1.2 million.

If There Is Such Evidence I Havent Seen This

Yanna Krupnikov, an associate political science professor at Stony Brook University, told me that even beginning to understand the impact of crossover voting strategies like Operation Chaos or the South Carolina GOPs votes for Bernie Sanders is challenging.

For example, wed first have to assume that partisans would truthfully explain their strategies, she said. Second, wed have to assume a counterfactual of what would have happened if there wasnt any effort by the other party to push a certain candidate. She added she hadnt seen much proof that crossover voting strategies were effective. If there is such evidence, I havent seen this.

Kelly Rader, an associate political science professor at Yale University, agreed, telling me that while crossover voting is common in open primaries, theres little empirical evidence that crossover voters are trying to sabotage the party in the general election. Rather, she said, They seem to be voting for their sincerely preferred candidates. Of the South Carolina GOPs push for Sanders, she said, It seems more like a political stunt to draw attention to the drawbacks of open primaries.

Related

The deeply strange Republican New Hampshire primary, explained

You May Like: 1998 People Magazine Trump Quote

The High Stakes In South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District: Can Republicans Answer

If you have a mail-in absentee ballot:;For it to count,;it must be received by your county voter registration office no later than 7 p.m. Tuesday night.

Options to ensure your vote is counted if you have not mailed it already include personally delivering your ballot to your county voter registration office.

You cannot return your absentee ballot to your polling place. In-person absentee voting ends at 5 p.m. on Monday.

Races to watch: The biggest race in the state is the coastal 1st Congressional District GOP primary that will decide a Republican nominee to take on incumbent Democrat Joe Cunningham.

The candidates are: Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox, Mount Pleasant Town Council member Kathy Landing, state Rep. Nancy Mace, and Bluffton housing official Brad Mole.;

Residents from parts of Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton and Beaufort counties will decide the nominee.

If no candidate receives better than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held in two weeks, on June 23.

In the GOP U.S. Senate race open to Republican voters statewide, incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham faces three challengers: attorney Duke Buckner, retired businessman Michael LaPierre and maritime engineer Joe Reynolds.

Heres what else you need to know;about voting:

Where can I learn more about the candidates on my ballot?

A quick and easy online source is the website assembled by the non-partisan League of Women Voters: Vote411.org.

Where do I vote?

S.C. drivers license

Where The Campaigns Stand

With the exceptions of Tom Steyer and Tulsi Gabbard, each of the seven Democratic candidates competing in South Carolina spent more than three times as many days in Iowa than in South Carolina to date. Combined, the candidates have spent over 120 days in the state since launching their respective campaigns. A Winthrop University survey published Thursday the first qualifying state poll released ahead of the South Carolina debate shows Biden remains the front-runner, narrowly leading the Democratic pack by 5 percentage points. Among black voters, Biden holds a 13-percentage point lead over his closest contender, former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer.

Six days from primary day, CBS News’ poll shows Biden 28% support, Sanders with 23% and Steyer with 18%. Here’s where the candidates stand, going into Saturday’s primary election here:

For months Biden consistently held a double-digit lead in every South Carolina state poll. Even when other early state surveys showed that he may have trouble, time and again;he remained the runaway favorite;in South Carolina especially among African American voters. After 4th and 5th place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively, some of his South Carolina supporters;have expressed doubts about his prospects.;His second-place finish in Nevada, though distant, may help ease those doubts, though.

Recommended Reading: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

Grassroots Group Of Republicans Say They Are Protesting Open Primaries By Voting In Saturdays Primary

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Cole Kazmarski and thousands of other voters in South Carolina will be casting their ballots in the Democratic Presidential Preference Primary on Saturday.

Kazmarski is the Vice Chair for the Midlands Republican Liberty Caucus. “This coming Saturday I plan to vote for Bernie,” she said.

Kazmarski is taking part in Operation Chaos 2020. Some conservative Republicans in South Carolina are protesting open primaries in the Palmetto State by voting on Saturday. “The only thing you have to lose is you get on their mailing list and they spend a little ad money on you in the future.”

Pressley Stutts is the Chairman of the Greenville Tea Party. He is urging fellow Republicans to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders in Saturday’s primary. “We are open and proud about it,” he said.

Stutts said if Sen. Sanders were to become the Democratic nominee, he believes President Donald Trump would have an easier path to reelection.

According to Stutts, their goal is to get South Carolina to switch to closed primaries. He said, “Primaries are a selection process. It’s not until November we actually have an election. There’s a difference between the selection process which should be done by the Republicans and the Democrats.”

Over at the State House today, the discussion of closing primaries took center stage. A Senate Judiciary Subcommittee took up two pieces of legislation that would change primaries in the state.

Most Read

South Carolina’s Open Democratic Primary Means Republicans Can Vote Too

Some Republicans want to sabotage Democratic primary in South Carolina

When South Carolina voters cast their votes in the state’s Democratic primary Saturday, registered Republicans will also be able to show up and vote. Here, the state’s primaries are open, which means all registered South Carolina voters can participate in either party’s primary regardless of political affiliation.;

The South Carolina Republican Party;announced;in September that it would join a list of other states that would not hold a presidential primary this year. Historically, the South Carolina GOP also didn’t hold primaries when Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were incumbents in 1984 and 2004, respectively.

Now, some South Carolina Republicans and Tea Party activists are encouraging Republican voters to participate in Saturday’s contest. Karen Martin, organizer of the Spartanburg Tea Party, is leading Trump 229 , an effort that’s using social media and word-of-mouth to encourage Republicans to vote for Bernie Sanders on Saturday.;

Joe Biden has been leading the race in South Carolina. Martin said that her small group was hoping to win enough support for Sanders to bump him into first place, above Joe Biden, who has been holding onto a shrinking lead in the state.;

The initial impetus for the group, according to Martin, was “who can we pick to coalesce our votes around that would make the most impact on South Carolina Democrats understanding why they should join us closing their primary?”

Read Also: Compromise Of 1877 Effects

Compromise Got Amy Klobuchar This Far Will It Work In 2020

North Charleston, South Carolina President Donald Trump suggested his supporters in South Carolina cast their primary ballots for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during his rally Friday, the second straight Democratic primary in which he’s suggested his supporters get involved.

CNN’s Lauren Fox and Jason Morris contributed to this report.

Republicans Urging Gop Voters To Vote For Sanders In South Carolina Primary: Report

State Republican leaders in South Carolina are urging;GOP voters to vote for Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersDon’t let partisan politics impede Texas’ economic recoveryThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Alibaba – Democrats argue price before policy amid scramble Overnight Energy & Environment Presented by the League of Conservation Voters EPA finalizing rule cutting HFCsMORE in the state’s Feb. 29 Democratic primary.

The plan orchestrated by;Greenville GOP chairman Nate Leupp and several other prominent Republican Party leaders revolves around GOP leadership’s belief that Sanders poses the least amount of challenge to President TrumpDonald TrumpOvernight Energy & Environment League of Conservation Voters Climate summit chief says US needs to ‘show progress’ on environmentFive takeaways from Arizona’s audit resultsMORE in November’s general election and its goal of getting the Palmetto State’s Democratic lawmakers to agree to close the state’s primaries.

Bernie Sanders is the most socialistic, liberal candidate running in the Democratic presidential preference primary, Leupp told The Post and Courier. So we feel we can make a strong point that our Democratic state legislators need to help work to close our primaries so it protects them as well as the Republican brand.;

South Carolina has open primaries, meaning;voters don’t have to be associated with a political party to cast a ballot.

Recommended Reading: Gop Lapel Pin

I Dont See That Happening

Ultimately, she hopes that the crossover vote push will cause South Carolina Democrats the same kind of angst that weve had for years and push them toward closing their primary.

I do not think it was a result of our efforts, even if we were as successful mathematically as we could be, that everyones going to agree to close the primaries tomorrow, she told me, but said coverage of their efforts was already getting traction with Democrats in the fight for closed primaries.

I asked whether Martin was concerned that a Sanders primary victory in South Carolina pushed by Republican crossover voters could ultimately result in a Sanders presidency. She took my point, but said, I dont see that happening.

The Iowa caucuses, she said, showed that the people that make the rules in the Democrat party are not going to allow Bernie to be the nominee. Citing debate rule changes and recent remarks by Democratic Party stalwarts like James Carville, she said that there was no way the party would permit Sanders to win the nomination.

The rule makers in the Democrat party are not going to let him be the nominee, so that is not a concern for us.

Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism?

‘operation Chaos’ Leader Hopes Trump Will Support Effort

Greenville County tea party leader Pressley Stutts said he is hoping;Trump will back his “Operation Chaos” effort calling for South Carolina Republican voters to cast ballots for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Republicans for Bernie Sanders:Conservative leaders encourage votes for Sanders because they think it will help Trump

“In my opinion;a;vote for Bernie in South Carolina is a vote for Donald Trump because there’s such a stark contrast between his socialistic communistic tendencies versus Trump’s capitalism,” Stutts said.

Stutts and other Trump supporters who gathered at a restaurant in Columbia appeared Wednesday on “Fox and Friends,” a morning program that the president is known to watch.

Stutts said he believes that Trump is “very well aware;of it now, according to my sources, you know with what we’ve been doing with Operation Chaos.”

Read Also: Did Trump Call Republicans Stupid In 1998

Why You Need To Vote In The Primary Elections

True or false. You only need to vote in the November presidential election and not the primary elections.

FALSE!

For most American voters, the presidential primary elections matter more than the general election. Like Ive said before, if you live in a red state or a blue state, your vote in the presidential election wont make a difference. The rest of your state will overwhelming vote for a Democrat or a Republican. Your vote wont change your states outcome. .

But the primary elections are an entirely different story.

The presidential primaries determine who will represent the Republicans and the Democrats during the November election. Instead of voting between just 2 candidates, you have the choice of 3 Democrats or 12 Republicans. Unlike the general election, you actually have a chance of voting for your preferred candidate, not just the lesser of two evils.

United States Senate Election In South Carolina 2022

Federal and state primary competitivenessBallotpedia’s Election Analysis Hub, 2022 See also U.S. House elections, 2022Submit

Voters in South Carolinawill elect one member to the U.S. Senate in the general election on November 8, 2022.

The election will fill the Class III Senate seat held by Tim Scott , who first took office in 2013.

Also Check: Trump Triangle Pin

How Parties Can Enact 17

17-year-old primary and caucus voting does not require state legislative action.;Many states adopting this policy have done so by state law, but others have by changing state party rules.;

State parties have broad authority over their nominating contests.

They may request to allow 17-year-old primary voting by asserting their First Amendment freedom of association rights.

Primary voting rights for 17-year-olds is legal and does not change the voting age.

Only those 17-year-olds who will be 18 by the general election may vote in the corresponding primary election or caucus. FairVote’s proposal treats the nomination contest as an integral part of the general election in which these citizens can vote.

The 26th Amendment prevents states from denying suffrage to 18-year-olds, but does not prevent states from establishing 17-year-old primary and caucus voting.

What Is A Voter

S Carolina Democratic primary: Republicans plan ‘Operation Chaos’

The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, which took effect January 1, 2011, created voter-nominated offices. The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act does not apply to candidates running for U.S. President, county central committees, or local offices.

Most of the offices that were previously known as partisan are now known as voter-nominated offices. Voter-nominated offices are state constitutional offices, state legislative offices, and U.S. congressional offices. The only partisan offices now are the offices of U.S. President and county central committee.

Recommended Reading: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

[ap3nnyforyourthoughts-blog]

The Present In Black

A black envelope was passed, from client to Caesura to Penny Dreadful herself. Behind the red wax seal was an eerie locket — a sleeping human face, cast in rose gold — and a letter.

The letter reads as follows:

Dearest Lucille:

Before I say anything substantial, I hope you’ll accept a sincere apology: I can’t be sure precisely how this letter found its way to you, but if the couriers I have in mind gave you any trouble… well, with luck my words and gift will make up for it. If they mentioned my name, you may be confused — but there’s no need to wrack your brain. while I know quite a bit about you, we’ve never met.

My name is Elizabeth. I’m a big fan.

I’ve been following you for some time now — the Greenbacks’ rise to fame and prominence, your independent operations, the so-unfortunate outing of your identity… I’ve yet to unearth many details about your relationship with the Tartarus family, but I find that very interesting as well. And I must say, you’re incredibly impressive for someone so young. The idea that you might be dying from the strain… I’m sure the general public has never even considered it — and frankly, I find the reality unjust and deeply frustrating.

Yes, I know about your powers. Know about the way life is slipping through your fingers. I can only imagine how awful it must be, to have so much potential and be limited by the rebellion of your body…

I felt it was necessary to intervene. Wouldn’t you, if you could?

By now, I’m sure you’ve noticed the locket paired with this letter. A bit haunting despite its size — rose gold or not, a death mask is still a death mask — but if you open it I think you’ll find the contents… very interesting.

The ampoule is my gift to you, sweet Lucille. An offer of friendship. I don’t want any favors, nor do you ‘owe’ me for it. It may seem like a small amount, that thick violet panacea, but if you ingest it — swallow it quick, I’m afraid it doesn’t taste pleasant — I’m sure you’ll find yourself feeling much better for about two weeks thereafter. I’ve left a phone number at the bottom of this letter: call it, call me, if you want more. No cost, no strings attached.

I want to see you grow, Penny Dreadful. I want to see the mark you leave on this world. And I’ll do anything to make sure you last long enough to make it.

With love and admiration, ~Elizabeth Q.

Penny had taken the letter without much ado, although hell if she knew who Eliza Quirrel was. But the feeling of something metal inside the envelope gave her pause, and so she opened the letter alone, in her bedroom, with the door bolted shut.  She had been called reckless in the past, but Penny was still reticent to touch the locket with her skin, and so it orbited above her in midair, held aloft by her powers, as she scanned the letter. As she reached the end of the page, she waved a hand and the locket opened, revealing that it did, indeed, contain a small vial of purple liquid. She quickly closed it and it dropped, bouncing once on the surface of the bed before lying still. 

This was too much. How could this “Elizabeth” have possibly known about her deal with the Tartarus family, let alone her condition? Had her parents said something? Had Olivia? But no, neither of them knew about her mob associations. Janice, then? But Janice didn’t associate with people like this, not unless something had drastically changed. 

No matter where she’d gotten her information, there was no denying that Elizabeth was a dangerous unknown. And Penny did not make a habit of drinking strange liquids mailed to her by unknowns. 

All the same, though. There was something undeniably enticing about a treatment option where none else existed. She waved a hand tiredly, and the locket floated across the room and into her dresser drawer. Then, she pulled her phone from her pocket and began to type a message. 

ap3nnyforyourthoughts

Jan its Lucy

I know Im not your favorite person right now or maybe ever and thats okay

But I really need some advice and youre p much the only person I can turn to

waltzofsunbeams

Fuck off, Lucille.

ap3nnyforyourthoughts

Im sorry I know I havent been good to you in the past but youre the smartest person i know and if anyone knows the answer to my question its you

You know who everyone is and I really need to know if I can trust someone

waltzofsunbeams

Oh, really? Lucille, when have you EVER given a shit about who I thought you could trust?

When have you ever even cared who you allied yourself with?

ap3nnyforyourthoughts

This is different

waltzofsunbeams

I. Do. Not. Care.

Penny. Listen. Frankly and honestly.

I don't CARE who you throw your lot in with.

You really can't sink any further than you already have.

If you get yourself killed, that's your damn fault.

Don't come crying to me.

ap3nnyforyourthoughts

Could not send

Janice

Could not send

Jan

Could not send

FUCKING FUCK

Could not send

THE ONE TIME I NEEDED YOU

Could not send

FUCK OFF RIGHT TO FUCKING HELL

Penny buried her phone as deep in her pocket as she could, and when her hand emerged, it was clutching her usual pack of cigarettes. Hands shaking, she fumbled one out of the box and lit it with a lighter she didn’t remember even taking out of her pocket. Fuck this. Fuck everything. She needed a damn smoke.

[undyinghappinessblog]

Oh Hi!

Oh hey. Haha fuck I sound like my 6 year old self...”Oh hey diary! How are you? Sorry I havent written in a while..” But....yeah. I haven’t. So I think I have quite a few things to catch myself up on. 

I am not really sure if the reason I have’nt been writing. It think its a combination of being really busy (I moved, my cousin got married, my grandma Betty passed away, Ive been working two jobs pretty consistently, I’m still in acting classes, I’m trying to find a new agent) mixed with the fact that I am seeing a therapist once a week, so I guess a lot of the things that I would find myself writing about on here are being worked out with a professional in the real world. 

The trouble with being so busy, is everything kind of tends to feel like its coming at you at a warped hyper speed, you know? Like I feel like a lot of the time I dont have the luxury or the time to really process anything or be in the present moment because I’m too busy worrying about what needs to be done, or I am working....Its something that I have been trying to work on in therapy. I am also meditating before I go to sleep at night-trying to be present and also boost my self confidence. And when I finally DO have a minute to process things, I find myself being really tired and needing to lie down and close my eyes. Its really hard to find that time for me, and I am learning more and more that that time is something that I really need to find a way to prioritize. Finding time to just be with myself and not be distracted by thoughts of what I ‘should’ be doing or what I need to do in the next couple of days, you know? 

I also find myself getting a little sad and scared that I am too busy worrying and stressing and working myself so hard that I am missing out on moments that are more important...Like genuine time with myself or my friends. Really enjoying time in the moment with little things like the sun, blue skies, leaves blowing in the wind, reading a book, painting, writing, etc. 

Anyway..I guess that was just a really long winded way of me saying ‘I have been really busy’. 

So...I’ll just give a quick recap of the past couple of months. 

Okay, so I thiiiiiink I wrote about working on ‘Sacred Lies’ on my last post? But just in case, I will give a quick little refresher. So I got cast as an SOC principle character on a TV show about a cult...and my roommate Daniel actually got cast too, so it was really nice to have a carpool buddy and someone that I could talk to on set. But it turned out that I was actually okay on my own too. The cast was really nice and I ended up making some pretty cool friends with a couple of them. 

Its been prettttyyyy much dead for me since then though. So in terms of acting, I have been unemployed since April. And I knooowwww that I should feel liucky for the opportunity-AND I DO!!!. Its just, I am starting to feel a little antsy...and wanting to get back on something...anything!! I’ve said it many times before, but its really hard for a woman to navigate through this industry. And I’m not even a fuckin minority- I know I have white privelage, and I feel shitty saying this, but....Its been really tough for me as a woman in this industry in the past few months, man. 

Like. I am just going to rant here for a sec. Since Sacred Lies, Daniel has booked 3 more shows and has gone down to LA twice to see casting directors and shit. And I have had....maaayybe 3 auditions? I wanna say 2 of them were one liners. What reaaallllyyyy bothers me is that I can guarantee that these booking have NOTHING to do with his talent, or his resume (think I have spoken about his weird act-y voice and his horrible, narcissistic attitude). It all has to do with the fact that he is a tall, young looking white guy. THATS IT. 

The thing I dont understand about hollywood is this. They FINALLY make these HUGE blockbuster films starring women and people of colour like ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and they all make MAAAADDD bank. They are so well received that they break box office records. Which absolutely makes sense because there are people who are FINALLY feeling represented and like they ACTUALLY see themselves in the characters on screen. But they still make so many films that have a 1. pro-dominantly white cast and 2. Most of the main characters are played by WHITE MEN. Like...How many Hollywood Rom-Coms have cast someone who identifies as First Nations as a lead? Someone who identifies as Middle Eastern? Muslim? Asian? Lesbian? Trans? Non-Binary? Truthfully, there are maaannny things about the injustices in this industry that I am not even aware of, and I could be overstepping my boundaries by saying all of this, but man. If I am feeling unrepresented and angry as a white woman, I cannot even IMAGINE how angry many of the minorities feel. Fuck it makes me so angry man.  Honestly, I could talk about this for hours until my head blows up or I throw my fucking computer across the room, so I am just going to stop there by saying this. More people of colour need to be cast (especially First Nations actors!!), more women need to be given larger roles and more women need to write, direct, produce, AD, edit, sound design-every single role in film needs more women. Period. 

Okay moving on. My cousin Alex got married this summer! Fuck that was emotional. The whole experience was just so lovely and happy and so much fun. She was married on the lake that we grew up spending our summers on. There was a lot of smoke from forest fires, but it was still so beautiful. Our family was there and it was amazing. I was Maid of Honour (My sister was supposed to be there as Co-maid of honour with me, but she was at school already, down in the states, so she couldn't be there.) and I was also the MC. I was really stressed about it at first, but once I had a few drinks in me, I felt better and had alot of fun (I think the guests had fun too...unless they were all just pretending to laugh at all of my jokes...). I gotta say though, I am not a huge fan of her husband. He’s not friendly, very needy and relies on her too much and their relationship reminded me a lot of what my parent’s looked like when I was growing up. Plus his family is fuckin trash (His bother and his brother’s girlfriend ended up getting in a huuggeee fight the night before the wedding and the cops were called, so Alex’s husband ended up calling her and asking her to come get her...) Anyway. Their relationship isn't any of my business...and as hard as it is to see someone I love be married to someone I dont particularly like or respect, I gotta let it be and hope for the best for her. 

My grandma Betty also recently passed. Which was very sad. I’ve experienced death and loss before, but it was when I was younger. This was the first time that I experienced death as an adult. When I think about how my sister and I got through what we did when we were kids, I just...I dont know how in the hell we did it. Becuase my grandma had dementia, and was very unwell and not herself, when I got the call, I was almost relieved. Obviously I was very sad. But I also felt strangely grateful for the time that I had with her and I also felt very lucky to have someone like her watching out over me. Like I FINALLY had someone in my corner. I still cant believe that she's gone. Saying that she ‘passed away’ is still so strange to say. 

Anyway...thats pretty much it. Lots of life happened in the past couple of months. Lots of crying, anxiety, laughs, reminiscing, hoping, meditating, painting, more crying, more anxiety...just lots of life man. 

I gotta say though, instead of ending this on a note of desperately hoping for ‘something good to happen’ by masking it with “manifesting”, I think I’m going to end it by saying this instead. 

I am going to take better care of myself. And be kinder to myself. I think that something good will come out of that regardless. Whether it be through acting or just my relationship with myself. For once in my life, I am going to take care of myself. Everything else comes secondary (at least for now) and will happen as its supposed to, according to the universe. 

And by saying that, by putting myself first, I think everything I have ever wanted for myself will come when its ready and in a healthier and more welcomed way. 

Okay. Thanks.

[trendingnewsb]

Michelle Wolf Is the Future of Stand-Up Comedy

The stand-up comedy world is in the throes of a sea change, as three of its marquee namesAziz Ansari, Louis C.K. and T.J. Millerstand accused of various degrees of sexual misconduct. Muddling matters further is the largesse of streaming giant Netflix, whose lofty $20 million-per-hour paydays for male comics Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and Dave Chappelle have caused much consternation among lesser-compensated women (and understandably so).

As the so-called Bad Men dissolve from the pop-culture consciousness faster than the McFly family photo in Back to the Future, and as women across all industries reclaim their time, a confident new comedy voice has emerged from the maelstrom.

Her name is Michelle Wolf. And she is fucking hilarious.

If you havent seen the 32-year-olds HBO comedy special, Michelle Wolf: Nice Lady, well, you should get on that immediately. It was, in this writers estimation, the funniest stand-up special of 2017, packed with sidesplittingand blessedly Trump-freejokes on topics ranging from the fragile male ego (A soft penis looks like the sound of sad) and the feminism of naked selfies to pay equity and Caitlyn Jenners brave transition (I still fucking hate your personality). Throughout the hour-long ride, she is both cutting and ebullient, her piercing voice, bobbing red mane, and chortle accentuating each clever punch line.

The through-line is the outmoded concept of the nice lady, and how, in the immortal words of The Real World, its time for women to stop being polite and start getting real. Though the special was recorded in August, two months prior to the disturbing Harvey Weinstein revelations, its a sentiment that aligns perfectly with the current #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.

I dont want to say serendipitous, because so many terrible things are happening to so many people, but its kind of serendipitous, I guess, offers Wolf. Its just a good time in comedy right now for women, because its a perspective that people are now more open to.

Unlike her male contemporaries whove struggled with addressing the epidemic of sexual-harassment allegations, Wolf has proven to be more than up to the task. In late October, just after the Weinstein stories dropped, her Daily Show boss Trevor Noah tasked her with creating a humorous bit on the truly horrifying casein just a few hours, no less.

Its a hard thing to make jokes aboutespecially that soon, she recalls. I struggled to find a take on it. Its good to have emotion behind something, but sometimes your feelings can blind you comedically. You have to remain fairly neutral, stand back from a situation, and think of the way it will actually work, not the way it will make your heart feel better.

The result was both funny and spot-on: My solution? Every time a guy gets caught sexually harassing someone, you dont just fire him. You have to replace him with a woman. Its a policy that I call, Pull out your dick, get replaced by a chick.

Wolf is also fearless. In addition to skewing Caitlyn Jenner in Nice Lady, she takes a few clean shots at Hillary Clinton, or rather the patriarchal system that made Hillary Hillary, from one so-called shrill voice to another.

I do have a theory on why Hillary lost: I think its cause no one likes her, says Wolf in the special. You shouldnt like Hillary. Shes a bitch. You have to be a bitch to be that powerful. Were never going to have a nice lady run for president. Nice ladies arent in charge of things, and if youre in charge of something and you think youre a nice lady, no one else does.

Thats the balance you have to create, she says, explaining the bit. I come from the train of thought that you can joke about anything as long as its funny enough. You have to anticipate what peoples arguments against you will be so that you can make a joke-rationale for it. That Hillary bit goes pretty aggressively at her but then it turns into a compliment. Im not a lawyer but I think its similar to writing a good argument where you have to cover all your bases.

Wolf wasnt always the self-assured comic you see on HBO and The Daily Show. At the College of William & Marythe same school Jon Stewart went to, strangely enoughshe was a real big nerd who majored in kinesiology, working in a cardiovascular molecular physiology lab, and ran track and field.

I used to watch those old Gatorade commercials from the 90s where the athletes are hooked up to wires on the treadmill and I wanted to be the doctor working on those guys, because I knew I wasnt a good enough athlete, she says.

After graduating from college in 2007, she took a job at Bear Stearns working in mutual funds and separately managed accounts. Then came the financial collapse.

I was the low person on the totem pole but I felt terrible for the people there whod been there for their entire careers and invested in the company. That was heartbreaking, says Wolf. It would almost have been better if everyone got fired on one day, but it dragged on for years. Youd just hear about people getting pushed to other departments and would think, yeah, theyre getting pushed out. It was pretty soul-crushing.

In March 2008, right around the time Bear Stearns was falling apart, a few high-school friends came to New York City to visit, and they all went to a taping of Saturday Night Live. Afterward, she thought, How did they get to do this? So she Googled the cast members and discovered that each and every one of them had done improv.

She immediately signed up for a beginners improv classlevel 1 at The PIT, or Peoples Improv Theaterand found it exhilarating. She had, after all, grown up idolizing Carol Burnett. Wolf would go directly from Bear Stearns (and later JPMorgan) to The PIT.

I used to go to improv classes in my skirt-suit from work, wearing heels, she remembers with a laugh. I finally started bringing pants and sneakers to wear and thought, Oh yeah, you can move!

At one of her improv classes, she befriended someone who worked in a computational biochemistry research lab as a recruiter. And so, after three-and-a-half years in finance she took a job there, because it provided her with more flexibility to explore comedy. She soon got into stand-up, and worked on it all day, day after day, writing jokes, performing sets, and tweeting.

It gave me a ton of time to sit at my computer and tweet all day, which really helped with my joke-writing, shares Wolf. I would just read the news and tweet jokes about the news. It teaches you an economy of words.

Wolf eventually began doing less and less work at the lab, devoting more and more time to comedy, and got fired. But shed saved up enough money, along with her severance, to last a year: I tripled down with so much fear inside of me because I was like: This is it. I have a year to make it.

She was fired in January 2013. In January 2014, she got hired on the new show Late Night With Seth Meyers, where she worked in the writers room and participated in the occasional sketch. Then, feeling the itch to perform more on-camera, she joined The Daily Show with Trevor Noah in April 2016.

Nice Lady is no accident. Its a late December evening and Wolf has, with the aid of an entire French press, worked from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. writing jokes (a process they call gangs) all day at The Daily Show before meeting me for more coffee. After our chat, shell head downtown to perform three stand-up sets, including at the famed Comedy Cellar.

I did 21 shows last week, she says, and thats on top of her Daily Show job. I have a new hour Im working on. I wanted to go on tour after the special came out, and I didnt want to do the same stuff. So Im workin on it. Its great and terrifying to work on new jokes.

She pauses, reflecting on her regimen. Its a lifestyle thats not necessarily conducive to women most of the time, because touring and doing stand-up a lot is not easy when you have a baby. Its easy for a guy because the baby can stay home, but Ali [Wong] brings her baby with her all the time, which is a very tough thing to do, and she has a great support system around her. But thats not the norm.

Wolfs well-received Comedy Cellar sets soon caught the eye of high-profile stand-up comedians, including Hannibal Buress. When host Chris Rock was recruiting joke writers for the 2016 Academy Awards, Buress recommended Wolf. She vividly remembers running into Seth Meyers office and frantically yelling, I just got a voicemail from Chris Rock telling me to call him back. What should I do?! You should call him back, said Meyers.

Several of Wolfs jokes made it into the Oscars telecastincluding a great sorority racist bitand Wolf eventually opened for Rock on several European dates.

Hes become a friend and a mentor, which is crazy. Theres no past me that would ever have thought this would happen, she says.

Another of her mentors is Louis C.K., whos been accused ofand confessed toserial sexual misconduct. Wolfs guest-starred on Louis web series Horace and Pete, opened for him on tour, and spent many nights shooting the shit with him at the Comedy Cellar.

When I mention the Louis scandal, she says matter-of-factly: Hes always been very supportive and generous, and my experience with him is very different than others, I suppose. But, in this kind of big moment in my career, I dont really want to talk about stuff that a man did.

Fair enough. After all, it wasnt Louis C.K. who performed thousands of stand-up sets or spent years in a pair of late-night writers rooms meticulously honing her craft, transforming from a nerdy scientist into the stage-commanding badass in Nike His you see before you today. It was Michelle Wolf.

To do stand-up, you have to have a strong point of view, and doing stand-up gave me that strong point of view, she says, cracking a smile. It made me a person.

Michelle Wolfs The Not Nice Comedy Tour kicks off Feb. 1 in Philadelphia. Shell be performing March 8-10 at Carolines in Manhattan.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/michelle-wolf-is-the-future-of-stand-up-comedy

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2IIElYJ via Viral News HQ