#like I just read the snippet and we already know the name of the orphanage and the ppl who work there

[top-blondie]

Not to put all my eggs in one basket but the author of Eugene’s story really saw the crumbs we got in TTS and went:

[nachosncheeze]

Music of Blindspot

The music of Blindspot 2x06 - Her Spy’s Harmed

So as I said last week, we’re into the part where the new/named/recurring themes for the season have largely already been introduced. It’s a lot lot lot harder from here to find the original tracks, and more and more of the music is mixes of snippets etc from earlier themes, and there’s a lot of stuff that’s apparently original but also short, that have thus far eluded me and seem to be unnameable and untraceable.

So I’m changing tactics a bit. I’ll still list anything major but I’m going to try to put in a bit more commentary, things such as maybe naming pivotal scenes where a bit of music has been used before. This is a show of parallels and although it seems like no one really talks about it Neely & Chung weren’t left entirely out of it either, and there’s some really nice story callbacks and foreshadowing to be found in the music at various points. I want to stress again that I am not an expert or a music critic or anything! I’m just a dork who likes soundtracks and has a decent memory for tunes (eff you Nas, some of us are actually auditory learners), so I’ll just put down whatever springs to my mind as interesting.

I'm also changing what scenes/tracks I have no info or comment on to small as well as blue to make things that might be of interest a bit more prominent. If you see something in small/blue that you have info on please let me know. :)

As always, all music is composed by Blake Neely and Sherri Chung; I'm getting nothing out of this except an excuse to re-watch with my own little "name that track" memory mini-game. Please don't do anything shady with the YouTube links; I don't want to get the OPs in trouble or we could lose access to this awesome content. Thank you! :)

Post is behind a cut, because it's long and I'll be referring to specific scenes so... spoilers!

One thing I want to say about the music in this episode. Almost all of it is unnameable as far as I've been able to discover. HOWEVER, Torn Apart (https://youtu.be/vbFxq386edQ), the theme introduced in 2x01 throughout the scene where Jane meets Shepherd and learns her past, is featured several times.

The original Torn Apart is a really interesting bit of music, because while it sounds mostly new (and I pointed out in my post for 2x01, there's a bit from around 2:50 in the link above, that I've unofficially called "Roman and Remi's Theme" because it comes up again and again at fraught moments between the two), it's also not-so-subtley underpinned by sounds from The Truth Can Save You (https://youtu.be/0wL6934DG2s), which I'm sure the fandom affectionately knows as the "Jeller Theme".

So why is that at all interesting or relevant to this episode? Because although versions of Torn Apart come up in several places in this episode, the "Jeller" elements are generally NOT included. Story-wise, of course, the team is split up and Jane's focus is almost entirely on her brother - maybe not so "torn apart" between the two sides in this episode after all, huh?

Scenes:

Reade and Zapata in Jones’ house

Winter briefing - First time we hear a bit of Torn Apart as Nas tells Jane to work Roman and be more like Remi.

Reade and Zapata destroying the evidence

Jane flashback and Jane and Roman in the compound - We hear Torn Apart throughout the scene, but the Jeller-y bit is only audible when Roman is introducing the puzzle box (i.e., just when he gets to the part where he's talking about events around the mission that sent Remi to Weller)

Main Theme - Officially released and purchasable on the Season 1 OST; can be heard in "Who is Jane Doe?/Main Theme" starting at approx 2:20. https://youtu.be/jdpjmqbUd-U?t=140

Bulgaria/Patterson and Borden sparring/Patterson calls in Reade and Zapata/Roman and Jane's briefing/Weller and Nas arrive at the hotel/Reade and Zapata at Jones' house/Weller and Nas find & escape with Winter

Jane and Roman arrive at Bradley Dynamics - When Jane flashes back about the coin and Roman at the orphanage, you hear Torn Apart, again without the Jeller bit.

Reade/Zapata arguing about the tape/Winter offers his proof/Patterson and Borden/OSHA meeting

Weller and Nas - The tune seems to be entirely original and I find that infuriating like sorry run-on sentence here but WHY do they get their own piece of music gahhhhh fortunately I’ve been unable to find it and I hope I never do! 😀

Patterson and Borden again/Bradley Dynamics/Zapata and the security guard/Bulgarian aftermath (I mean bloodbath and that's somehow poetic amirite?)

Bradley Dynamics - Jane and Roman have a confrontation to the tune of Torn Apart, but again with no Jellery elements, and at the very end of the scene there's a hint of that Remi and Roman theme when Roman tells her that Shepherd finished the job when she left.

Bulgaria/Bradley Dynamics after the adbreak/Bulgaria/Patterson the chip whisperer/Keaton arrives/Jane flashes back and abandons her countermission

Kurt fails to finish the job - Of all Weller's actions this episode, imo this one was far more deserving of its own new theme but alas it didn't get one. The near-silence is pretty good though, I guess. (There is some of the ambient sounds from the verrrrry very beginning of the series, i.e. the very first scene, as you can hear in the track called Birth which was official and purchasable on S1 OST...while he strangles the bastard).

Jane and Roman escaping the lab

Patterson and Borden - This is a cute new bit of music but I CAN'T NAME OR FIND IT. If anyone knows, please hmu.

Patterson finds the bug/Weller and Nas driving off/Patterson tells Weller about the bug

Jane and Roman talking about how Remi would have sacrificed him - what a scene! 😭 Torn Apart is the dominant theme, but now, as Jane says she doesn't want to be Remi any more, it's heavily overlayed with those echoey vocals that appear everywhere. Blake Neely said in some of the supplemental materials/interviews that when they started conceptualizing the sounds and music style back in the pilot and then season 1, this was intended to represent Jane's inner voice, her true identity, calling out from inside her/beyond the amnesia. Having it come in just when she's condemning her "old self" is kinda neat. There's a tiny hint of "The Truth Can Save You" when they first see the gum wrapper.

Zapata confronts Reade about the autopsy

Jane returns/Patterson has solved the recordings - well obviously this is an original composition titled “Enough! We’re done” and the lyrics are as follows: “Enough! We’re done x100″ :P

End theme - The usual, as usual. https://youtu.be/zh2PlvOWnTU

[reading-between-truth-and-lies]

(Have A little snippet of what is now considered a past conversation between Kokichi and Shuichi. It’s the night before Kokichi started going to class. If anyone wants me to do snippets of Kokichi meeting each character for the first time just send in an ask!  ~Mod Kokichi)

Shuichi steps into his room, another long day of classes and nosy friends behind him. He sighs exhaustively and sits on the edge of his bed, hunching over. A moment of quiet passes as the detective relaxes enough to find his words. "Tomorrow is supposed to be the first day you'll be joining me in my classes... How are you feeling?" He doesn't bother addressing the kitsune by name, there was simply no need. Shuichi knew the other was there and awake.

Kokichi poked his head and upper body out of the void. he crossed his arms against the floor, resting his his chin on his arms as he looked at the detective. “You know when you talk like that people are gonna think you talk to yourself Shu~” He smirked then shrugged his shoulders. “What’s there to worry about? It’s not like I am being graded like you losers.” 

The Kitsune moved to put a finger to his chin tilting his head in a thinking motion. “Now that I think about it... I have never gone to a school before.” He then moved his finger to right above his lip with a smirk. “I mean when the orphanage found me they tried but I never went~ It sounded soooooo boring and I had better things to devote my time too. Besides I learned everything I know from my fellow kids, the streets and my past animal pals.”

The detective sighs, "Some people already think that." It was a slight exaggeration, collage pupils have probably never thought that. Shuichi continues, "Ah- but, you haven't been around more then a few people for a long time now, right? Just as long as you're prepared for that..."

Shuichi finds the energy to shuffle through his briefcase to pull out a notebook, he finally looks in the kitsune's general direction as the male extends it towards Kokichi. "I-I can give you a run-down of my classes as we move between them tomorrow, but I wrote them all down in this; what you do with the notebook is up to you." And then, rather hesitantly adds "S-some of these might uhm, interest you, as scary as the idea sounds..."

Kokichi pursed his lips slightly before lowering his ears slightly letting a bit of his true feelings. "Y-You want honesty? I really don't know. Guess I am a little worried. Maybe. It has been awhile..."

Seeing the notebook held out to him the kitsune crawled out of his little hole to sit right in front of Shuichi. He took the note book and looked it over. It was just a plain red notebook. Nothing really special about it.

Opening it he looked at what the detective wrote. He already saw few classes that sounded interesting enough to keep his attention. "A quick run down tomorrow might help. Maybe." He spoke without looking up from what he was reading.

Shuichi nods, "Y-yeah." The kitsune seemed to be placing some amount of trust in him and that sort of jumpstarted the detective's anxiety, but damnit now is not the time!

He finds his eyes drifting down to the other's hands, mindlessly looking at them, "Let me know if you need to step out of a class for a bit. My professor's already know you'll be with me a-and that you're, um... Different, i-in this case." Shuichi can't help but grimace at his use of the word different. And now, clean up the verbal mess you just made-

"They don't know anything more though, so don't worry about that, okay?" The detective back-peddles. "S-sorry, im probably not doing a good job of preparing you..." He sighs, lowering his gaze to the floor, resting his face in a hand.

Kokichi nodded "Okay. I know. They told me that all the professors know I'm not an actual student here. But to treat me like I was one unless you stepped in or something goes wrong with- No, Encase the bird comes. I always have to deal with the bird. Noone else should have too."

Kokichi panicked slightly seeing the other get depressed suddenly. "H-Hey, Your doing fine! This is new to you just as much as its new to me. B-But I guess you are helping. Maybe..."

"The bird..." The words carry like lead on his tongue, but Shuichi nods slowly. Just keep going along with it. "Y-yeah. I'll do my best, Oma-kun." He gives a small grin he hopes is encouraging. The male glances over to the small clock and the grin fades, "I'll- no, we'll need to be up by 7:30..." The detective yawns softly.

Kokichi nodded and gave a faint smile. He looked at the time and winced slightly. "If that's the case then sleep is needed." He crawled back over to his void to slide back into it. Luckily he was already in his sleep wear: a galaxy themed shirt stolen from Kaito.

Shuichi nods and stands once the kitsune was back in the void, changing out of his day clothes and throwing on an old T-shirt. He grunts, laying down on his bed; thoughts continuing to spin in his head. If he's going to be by me now, then I should just... "Uhm... K-kokichi-kun?" The male tries out casually addressing the other.

Kokichi froze in his void at hearing Shuichi use his actual name. A small blush dusting his cheeks. He just calls out from inside the void, voice muffled and slightly distorted "Yes Shu?"

"Goodnight"

"...Yea, N-Night shu!"

[aces-to-apples]

once upon a time, like over a year ago, i reblogged that trope mash-up meme and......i don’t think i ever ended up posting anything. because you know me, nothing can ever be quick or short or easy! anyway, here’s a camp half-blood au snippet!

- - -

anonymous asked: “19 [Summer Camp AU] and 99 [Magical Accidents] with Cody and Rex for the mashup tropes please!” @ anon, I saw your very clever request for a Camp Half-Blood AU and, obviously, I greatly approve.

“Dab’ika Vaar’Kara”

“Alright, shinies! Front and center!” Rex barked, scaring the daylights out of their latest arrivals. It was usually Cody’s job, as Marshal Commander of the cabin, to set the proper tone for their newest little brothers, but after the duo’s spectacular arrival, he'd graciously handed that duty over to Rex. Any grumbling on his twin’s part was strictly for show, Cody knew. Deep down. Like way, way, way down.

Said shinies did as they were ordered to the best of their ability—which was to say, pretty fucking atrociously. Rex ignored the snickers from the cabin’s various bunks, but Cody shot them a look that said either behave or be cleverer about it.

“Now, as new arrivals, you're given a certain amount of leeway when it comes to the rules, regulations, and realities of living in the Godsworld.” Rex fixed the little ones—nearly fourteen and just barely scraping in under the wire in regards to the required claiming age—with a hard stare. “After orientation, you will be expected to either figure out what you don't know yourself or keep your trap shut. Understood, cadets?”

It was a blatant lie, of course; Cody could already see Kix’s bunk littered with sheets of flimsi covered in drawings, diagrams, and written explanations. Still, it was the spirit of the thing, yeah? A’sev had scared them witless when they’d first arrived at camp, and now that he was off doing Paladin shit, it fell to them to keep the tradition alive. It was a beautiful cycle, really, and watching the tiny shinies straighten up and shout “sir, yes, sir” like Rex was a fucking drill sergeant was hilarious.

“First off,” Rex continued, beginning to pace rather impressively in front of the duo. Cody had a hard time not joining the boys in their next snickerfit. “Congratulations on surviving your first monster encounter—besting an abaia while it’s got a home-field advantage is no easy feat. You did yourselves, and all your brothers, proud.”

The rookies straightened up that much more under the praise and Cody felt his need to smirk warring with the impulse to coo. “Whose idea was it to get it to charge into the rocks?” he asked curiously. They'd taken bets, watching from the shore.

“Mine, sir,” the one with the crew-cut said, taking a small step forward. A ripple spread through the cabin as they all noticed he'd subtly placed himself between his twin and Rex. That kind of body-language, combined with the late claiming, didn't bode well.

“Well done,” Rex acknowledged with a nod. “It was reckless, but well-executed. Just the kind of thinking we need in Mandalore Cabin. You got a name, shiny?”

“Ferdinand, sir,” the kid said without any hint of irony. They all winced in sympathy, because yeesh. “This is Emrys.”

Seeing that Rex didn't quite know how to phrase it, Cody asked, “You boys got nicknames?”

Their reaction was… worrying.

“Sir, no, sir,” Ferdinand—poor fucking kid—immediately denied, panic well-hidden to anyone not used to reading every variation of the face the Mand’alor’s poor decisions had stuck them all with. “We’re proud to carry these names and would never—”

“Anyone here calls me Emrys, I’ll break their fucking nose,” the long-haired twin cut in, stepping forward so that they stood shoulder to shoulder. “Got it?”

A chorus of affirmatives traveled through the cabin, and Cody exchanged a delighted look with Rex, thoroughly charmed by their newest pair of brothers. Mandalore Cabin was about to get interesting in a way it hadn’t since Hardcase first showed up, covered in ichor and grinning like he was ready to fistfight Jango himself. It was damned adorable.

- - -

“So, what was your mum like?” Hardcase asked, sidling up to the new arrivals during the tour and immediately sticking his nose into their business. Because no one ever taught him to give traumatized feral children their space, apparently. He hissed and removed his arms from where he’d thrown them around Fives’ and Echo’s shoulders when, er, encouraged to do so, but his smile never wavered.

“Dunno,” Ferdinand—Fives, rather—replied with a disaffected shrug, but Em—that was—Echo shoved an elbow back into ‘Case’s ribs in exchange for more breathing room and gave a much clearer, “Orphanage got us.”

Rex’s explanation of the climbing wall stuttered and Cody smoothly picked it up, flashing an I got this in MSL. “We find that using real lava encourages new arrivals to pick up necessary skills at an acceptable rate, and keeps our older members from getting lazy.”

"Sounds reasonable," Echo murmured, casting a critical eye up and down the wall in question. The hair on the back of Cody's neck stood on end; that was not a normal reaction to the climbing, even from new recruits, even from Mando'ade.

Something had gone quite wrong in these little brothers’ lives.

[starburstonlayaway]

for @elizabroadwaytrash and i

Current word count :

40,813

Basic summary:

Tyler and Ethan’s family goes through a lot of changes following their marriage. They lose people, take others in, and new journeys are ventured on every day, no matter how scary or exciting.

Title? WIP? Alternate titles?

“Leave a Message.”

Yes, it is a work-in-progress.

I don’t believe we had any alternative titles, and if we did, I do not recall them.

Favorite character and how they are introduced:

Tyler. He’s introduced at the beginning of the first chapter, seen before anyone else.

Favorite ship:

Rose/Victor! I haven’t gotten to writing their relationship and build-up, but from our plans and how we’ve designed Victor’s character to be, I’m excited.

MC’s biggest mistake:

Rose is probably more of an MC than the others, despite it being a Tyler/Ethan fanfic.

Her biggest mistake was probably refusing to give up on Carter. While he was her boyfriend, his actions toward her (and later, Jazzy) were unacceptable after she came out to him. She isn’t to blame at all, but it’s definitely the thing she regrets most.

Inspiration:

A webcomic on Webtoon called “Always Human.” The comic explores the events happening to the girls Sunati and Austen throughout the course of their relationship. Beautiful art, realistic problems (despite being set in a futuristic utopian society), representation, and well-written romance. I wanted to incorporate these factors into LaM to make it similar to a story I enjoyed very much that left an influence on me.

Underrated character appreciation:

Jazzy! Rose’s best friend. Even in the separate story where she’s one of the main set of characters, she’s still very overlooked. She’s very upbeat and friendly, with lots of knowledge on wlw pop culture and history!

A few favorite dialogues:

“I’m ready, but we’re not in a rush or anything.” “Of course we’re in a rush, you slut! The sooner you guys get married, the sooner you have kids, and the sooner I’m an uncle!“ “Aren’t you occupied enough as it is? If you’re so involved in the idea of having a family, then why haven’t you and Jack had any kids of your own yet?“ “Don’t roast us like this.”

(spoken angrily) “Hey, Mister, that’s my soup!”

“That’s Amy! She’s probably Chica and Henry’s favorite out of all of us, but WE SHOULD REALLY SHARE CUSTODY OF HENRY.”

“Uh, I like to read, mostly, but watching older cartoons is also fun.” “Ooh. What cartoons do you like?” “My current favorite is Adventure Time!” “Adventure Time is considered an older cartoon now?” “Guess so.” “Damn, we’re getting old.” “We’re already old, dude.” “Thanks I feel worse.”

“What kind of cancer is it again?” “Leukemia.” “The survival chances of that aren’t terrible.” “Wow. Thanks.”

“You punched Jazzy?! You fucking punched Jazzy?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why would you punch someone for standing up to you when you were the one being a dick?!” “She wouldn’t get out of my face—” “I don’t wanna hear that bullshit! Carter, you can hurt me all you fucking want and I won’t care, but you’ve crossed the fucking line. Jazzy is the only person that’s been nice to me all year. She’s supported me and loved me no matter what, something you never fucking did!” “What the hell are you—” “We’re done, Carter! I never want to see your ugly transphobic douchebag ass again!”

MC moodboard:

N/A

MC’s fondest memory:

Probably when she was adopted. It was the most exciting day of her life, and lead down a journey of self-discovery.

In close second is the day she became friends with Jazzy. She was there for her when she needed her most.

Songs that remind of LaM or the characters:

“What About Us” by P!nk, probably definitely because it’s the song I used for Tyler and Ethan’s first dance.

“Leave a Message” by gnash, the song I named the book after! This one doesn’t need much of an explanation.

“Party Tattoos” by dodie. I plan to use this song in the closing chapter, sung by Rose.

Enjoy torturing the characters?

Not really, but I do it anyway. Good for character development, which there’s a lot of. But I don’t enjoy it, no. I love the characters in this book like my cat and dogs: with all my heart.

MC’s biggest fear:

Being unaccepted. This fear makes itself evident after what happens with Carter. Her mother’s reaction enforces this more.

Goals:

To finish LaM by the end of sophomore year, editing and all.

To be proud of the finished product.

To use this book as a reminder that I can do it. I can write.

Characters’ secret talents:

Ethan, despite not playing for many, many years, still excels at playing the ukulele. This becomes not so much of a secret later on in the book.

Rose is surprisingly good at tic-tac-toe. Not necessarily a talent, but definitely something she’d want you to note.

Turned into a media? Cast?

Seeing as LaM is a piece of fanwork, I don’t believe I would turn it into a media.

If it was to be a media, however, along with Tyler Scheid and Ethan Nestor to play Tyler and Ethan, as well as Mark Fischbach, Amy Nelson, and Kathryn Knutsen to play their friends, a few choices I would make would be to cast Janet Mock as adult Rose Scheid and Elliot Fletcher as adult Adrian Garcia.

MC’s basic morals and general beliefs:

Rose’s number one moral is to never make someone feel shut out. Having been rejected (as well as accepted) many times in her life, she knows that she never wants anyone to feel like that, and makes an effort to be the reason.

How MC found out the tooth fairy doesn’t exist:

She never really believed in it, to begin with.

Best name:

Jasmine “Jazzy” Hinojosa-Mills.

Least favorite OC:

Carter. Abusive transphobic asshat that left Rose with lots of insecurities and trauma for years to come.

Snippet:

Mark really had gone all out with making the altar just like Tyler had wanted it to look. The arch was made out of ebony wood that had been painted white with golden accents. Flowery vines were twirled all around the wood, the flowers colors of black, grey, purple, and blue. The chairs surrounding the aisle were all made of the same wood as the arch, the cushions blue and grey. Both Ethan and Tyler’s family alike filled those chairs, chattering away with one another. Tyler quickly scanned the side filled with Ethan’s relatives, and wasn’t surprised to see Ethan’s aunt and uncle were not present. He hoped to god that Ethan wouldn’t notice. The guests quieted down and turned their heads to look at Tyler, and he felt put on the spot. Most of the guests smiled at him, others clapped quietly. He could see that two people in particular were both smiling and clapping. Seeing Jack and Kathryn so supportive of him was majorly comforting to Tyler. He exhaled, and glanced at Mark behind him. Mark was already smiling, and nudged his head towards the arch. Tyler walked down the aisle and received praise from just about everyone sat in chairs. He high-fived Jack on his way to his place next to the officiant. The lady smiled at him, and he returned the gesture. She opened her book as Mark took his place next to Tyler, gazing over his friend’s tux and wiping off some dust quickly. Mark gave Tyler a thumbs-up, and Tyler couldn’t stop smiling. Now that he was actually out in front of the guests and standing where he was meant to be, his nerves relaxed. In fact, every thought he’d ever had in doubt of this marriage before that moment vanished, as soon as Ethan walked out.

WIP representation:

LGBT

Tyler/Ethan

Rose is trans

Jazzy is pansexual with two moms

Adrian is trans with two moms

Marcus has two dads

POC

Rose and her mother are black

Adrian and his mama are Mexican

Disabilities

Marcus has leukemia (cancer of the white blood cells)

Standalone or part of a series?

Standalone. Although I suppose you could call it a spinoff of one of our other works, the reader does not need to read that series to understand this story.

Biggest character development:

Definitely Rose. Seeing as the story follows the changes through most of her life, there’s a big difference in her character comparing the first chapter she is introduced to the closing chapter, where she takes center stage.

People who know of the WIP:

My co-writer, Caroline. Though I’ve done most of the writing, Caroline and I brought the idea for this story to life together, creating a unique cast of characters such as Jazzy, Rose, Adrian, Marcus, their families, Victor, Rose’s mother Aaliyah, and Ethan’s uncle Zane. Without her, the story would not have been written in the first place.

The lovely readers on AO3. I’ve uploaded chapters of the WIP onto there, updating at least once a month. It feels good to be putting some of my work out there for other people instead of just keeping such a joy all to myself. Of course, this is just a personal opinion.

Characters’ annoying habits:

Jazzy’s very short-tempered. Make one wrong move, anyone could get shouted at, lectured, maybe even a blow to the face.

Marcus feels a lot of self-pity and spite. He wishes his parents wouldn’t baby him so much just because he has cancer. This, later on, leads to him participating in multiple illegal activities to antagonize them.

Adrian grows to be more selfish as he gets older, even going out of his way to go into the military and disappear from Rose’s life out of the blue one day without telling her. He later regrets this.

Rose has plenty of autophobia to go around. After her mother gave her up to the orphanage at a young age and Carter’s abuse towards her in her late middle school years, followed by Adrian’s sudden leave after high school, she always fears being alone or abandoned by the people she cares about.

Tyler and Ethan both never seem to recover from the grief of their first child’s loss. This makes them closed off to people who ask about the incident, and could sometimes bring them back to their depressive state.

Very last three lines (with context):

“Unsure was she on how to approach this. She’d felt it since that first night she met him, but it’d grown more and more out of hand since. They’d also became closer as friends, even now sometimes hanging out without the needed assistance of Marcus and Jazzy by their sides to ease the tension.”

Context: Rose had just come to the conclusion she had a crush on Adrian.

Characters: Based off IRL people(through looks, personality, or habits)?

Tyler, Ethan, Amy, Kathryn, Mark, Jack, Chica, Henry, and all of the parents in the story are based off IRL influencers. The characters have only been switched and changed a bit, as well as the relationships, of course, to fit the story.

Impossible friendship:

Carter and Jazzy. Don’t really need to explain it if you’ve read the work. They hate each other’s guts more than anyone, and they could never kiss and make up. As characters, they aren’t the types to do that at all, especially with each other.

Am I proud?

Yes. Leave a Message has been my most dedicated piece of work so far, and I’d say I’m well on my way to reaching my personally-set deadline next year if I keep it at the rate I’m going. Not to mention the characters and plotlines are exciting and realistic, in my own opinion. There’s still a lot left to be written, but I’ve got everything planned out. I don’t plan on stopping until I’m finished with it.

[randomaliha]

parade

Credence/Graves regency AU snippet, pg. read on ao3

Credence was supposed to be handing out leaflets to the passers-by. He knew he was, but the heavy sky had opened up shortly after he left the chapel and now he was wet and so too were the precious leaflets, which meant Ma would punish him for being careless again.

That was why he hadn't gone straight back home. Instead he'd walked on past the coal depot towards the docks, until he reached the little park where the trees were nodding with the steady rain, their grey branches tinged with tiny green shoots like feathers.

Credence loved the park when it rained. No one else was ever there. Sometimes he imagined that it was part of a grand estate, one with wide green lawns and a vast lake that reflected the sky, surrounded by willows and oaks and silvery birch trees, and a woodland that held soft and shadowy secrets. When the park was empty it was easy to imagine walking around an estate like that; easy to imagine all that space was his own. It would have a grand home to go with the land, of course; something with huge windows and sunny places to read.  Credence sometimes wondered if he'd dreamed up this wonderful place or if, perhaps, he'd known something like it as a baby, before he'd been sent to the orphanage and adopted out to live in a small, dark room in a chapel that had rickety stairs and mice in the corners.

A group of young children ran toward Credence then, their wet faces bright with glee as their footsteps thundered along the path and sent water splashing into the air. Credence stepped aside to let them pass, smiling a little to see them so happy and free. For a moment he wished that he had run through puddles when he was a boy, but Ma had said it was improper, and now that he was twenty that was certainly true.

His smile dimmed. Ma was going to be so very cross about the leaflets. Perhaps he should throw them into the river and tell her that he had given them all out like she said -- but that would be a lie, and somehow Ma always knew when he was lying. He had the scars on his hands to remind him, ugly white lines where the belt buckle had cut into his skin. Never tell lies, those scars warned. God will punish you, and you will suffer.

Modesty once said that it was Ma who punished them, not God, but then whose fault was it that Ma had adopted them in the first place? If God was real and wanted to punish people, putting them in the care of someone like MaryLou Barebone was sure to make that happen.

Credence reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the spoiled roll of leaflets. The rain had softened the lettering so that the black lines of print that read Witches are among us! Repent and Protect Your Families! had smudged and torn, and they looked a lot less intimidating like that. He would throw them away. No one would want them now -- no one ever wanted them, really -- so the dark, grimy river was probably the best place for them. After all, once Credence had been down by the docks and saw some people pulling a body out of the river, so a handful of silly paper wouldn't be so bad.

The rain eased off a little as he walked and he looked up, wiping his face and hearing as he did so the distant sound of cheering. He crossed the street curiously, ducking between carriages as they rattled over the cobblestones, and followed the sound through the twists and turns of the city until he saw a crowd gathered along the roadside. Down the middle of the street marched rows of soldiers, dressed in bright red uniforms and holding muskets against their shoulders. Credence shuffled forward until he stood at the front of the crowd and watched in fascination as the soldiers passed; there was a drummer and two men holding flags, and behind them came some other soldiers mounted on fine-looking horses -- those were officers.

Next to Credence stood a boy, skinny but red-cheeked, who looked up at him and said, 'They's going to Spain to fight the Frogs. I wish it were me! I have to wait til next year, Pa says, when I'm old enough.'

'How old are you now?' Credence asked. The boy looked terribly young to him, about the same age as the orphans who flocked to Ma's chapel looking for a bowl of soup.

'I'll be thirteen in June, sir,' the boy said, puffing his chest out proudly. 'George's my name. Are you going too? They says they need every man they can get to fight Ol' Boney.'

'I -- I don't know,' Credence said, and changed the subject. 'Which regiment are these?'

'That's the __th, of course. You never heard of 'em? They've won ever so many battles! My sister Nelly reads it all out of the newspaper for us.'

George began to describe one of those battles but the officers on horseback were now passing by right in front of them and Credence was suddenly deaf to the surrounding noise.

He swallowed hard. 'Who,' he said, 'who is that?'

'Which?' said George, obstusely.

'The man, the one there on the black horse, the tall one.'

'Oh, well, that must be Colonel Graves. This is his regiment. I s'pose we should have saluted him.'

'Colonel Graves,' Credence said unsteadily, watching as the Colonel rode away down the street.

'That's right,' said George blithely. 'He's always in the despatches. Nelly says the Prince Regent particularly thanked him for his service -- imagine!'

'He sounds like -- a great hero.'

'I shall be a hero too -- as soon as I'm allowed!'

'I'm sure you will be,' Credence murmured. He could still just see Colonel Graves's dark head and strong shoulders above the now-fracturing crowd, and past the noise of people he could hear the beat of the drum.

As if the clouds knew the parade had passed by, the rain began to sweep back in, starting off with a sudden patter of rain and then falling in earnest, sending people scattering for cover. George whooped and dashed off into the grey of the city, but Credence stood still, lost in thought and uncaring of the rain. He was already wet, after all, and now strangely warm, and it was with a very pleasant air of distraction that he tossed the hated leaflets into the river and began to make his way home.

He thought back on it that night, in the late hours when the whole house was asleep. He thought about how Colonel Graves had looked at him for a moment, a shining moment, just as he had passed by on his towering warhorse. The Colonel's dark eyes had swept over the small crowd and paused, briefly, on Credence, causing a jolt to go through Credence’s insides. Colonel Graves had no reason to look at him, Credence thought. His clothes were old, and old-fashioned besides, and although he tried to be as neat as he could Credence knew he did not look appealing the way other young men did. For the most part, people didn’t look at him at all.

But Colonel Graves had. And Credence remembered the shock of it, the way that gaze had pierced him, as he lay in bed, gripping the bedsheets beneath him. He wanted to reach down under his sleeping clothes to where his body throbbed. He wanted to touch his fingertips to his hot skin as he remembered how Colonel Graves had looked against the pale grey sky, how his strong thighs had spread across the saddle, how Credence had looked up and Colonel Graves had looked back, so tall and well-formed, his dark brows and firm mouth, and the blazing red of his regimentals. By God, Credence had never seen anything so fine, so beautiful.

He mustn't, of course. He mustn't touch himself like that. It was a sin to give oneself pleasure, says Ma.

That must have been why it felt like sinning, standing there on the roadside in full view of God and all, looking at Colonel Graves.

[preservationandruin]

Edgedancer Liveblog Part 2

Lift steals, gives a gift to the lower immigrant ward of the city, has a strange conversation, gets some food, and has an appointment. 

We switch to the point of view of a guard named Hauka, who is noticing that people trying to get into the city are being suspicious--like a “farmer” with no callouses and fine boots and a silk belt. 

And, somehow, Lift got into his cart, gets out, jumps on Hauka’s shoulders to get away, and we get a good demonstration of just how hard to catch Lift is--she can’t be held onto, she can get through windows other people can’t, and she can climb sheer walls. Poor Hauka. She’s just trying to do her job and then Lift happens. 

And not only does Lift get her pancakes, she spills an entire cartload of grain into the immigrant quarter, giving the starving refugees some food. 

Hauka needs a fuckin break. 

Anyway, Lift always denies she does things for people who aren’t herself, but she very obviously does. She also notes that this place actually has shantytowns, which are uncommon mostly because usually, highstorms will fucking annihilate them. 

Also, Wyndle reads books for Lift, which is very cute. Although she should probably learn how to read at some point. Also, she accidentally assaults someone by throwing a book at them. Whoops. 

And so she’s running again. 

Once she gets away, we get an interesting snippet: 

I will remember those who have been forgotten. She’d sworn that oath as she’d saved Gawx’s life. The right Words, important Words. But what did they mean? What about her mother? Nobody remembered her. 

There seemed far too many people out there who were being forgotten. Too many for one girl to remember. 

That really paints a picture of Lift as one kid trying to lift the weight of a world of exhaustion and indifference on her shoulders. One already-hurt kid; what happened with her mother? She needs a hug. Someone hug Lift. 

We get a few more hints about Lift’s actual thoughts and reasons here. Wyndle points out that although she’s ethnically Reshi, she’s never visited the Reshi Isles; Lift also talks about how the more you stay in one place, the more people have expectations of you, and then you end up being who they want you to be instead of who you actually are. Wyndle asks who she actually is, and we get that she doesn’t really know. 

And then she needs food again. 

We get her conversation in a street cant with a young girl--she clearly is very good at adapting to new areas and cants and situations. Lift also tells the girl that she was the one responsible for the “lunks from the sky”--assumedly, the grain. Lift’s explanation of how she could do that:

“Mistress,” Wyndle said, “that was the strangest conversation I’ve ever heard, and I once grew an entire garden for some keenspren.”  “Seemed normal to me. Just a kid on the street.”  “But the way you talked!” Wyndle said.  “What way?”  “It just felt right,” Lift said. “Words is words.” 

So Lift just has some inherent talent in this. I’d guess that it’s an Edgedancer thing--I know that the Words of Radiance epigraphs said that the Edgedancers were well-spoken and refined, but what if that was because they were talking with scholars? Maybe Edgedancers adopt the speech pattern most comfortable for the group they’re in, which would make sense given that they seem to focus on working with forgotten people. 

Such as the orphans that Lift has been talking to. Anyway, she goes to the Orphanage that she was told actually hands out meals to people, becuase she doesn’t have many more options. As she waits for food, she and Wyndle can see the activity of the poeple in this district, including a mother tearfully leaving her child at the orphanage. So Lift goes over and sits next to the boy, and takes his hand, and tells him it’s going to be okay. 

Lift is so good, guys, she’s just this beam of light  and I love her. 

Anyway, she gets barely any food and the lady who runs the orphanage--”the Stump”--is a bit of a piece of work. Anyway, Lift starts talking with a man who waits in the area around the Orphanage, who tells her that the Stump does a business trading spheres on the side--she gets asked, in turn, what body part she feels most like. 

She says a nose, because she’s full of weird crud. Also works on another level; she can sniff out things other people miss, but she doesn’t make that connection.  Anyway, she leaves. She’s got an appointment. 

[syzygyclock]

12 Fics I Never Wrote

In observance of the remaster, these are the fics I didn’t write. Some are file names with nothing more than an elevator pitch, some have little snippets of scenes. Some of them I don’t think I’ll ever pursue, some I’d still like to but probably won’t. I couldn’t sleep last night and started thinking about these, so I will put them out into the world. I’ve generally just given these whatever file name they already have on my drive.

1. Bioterror. This is just a scene with Rinoa examining a gross plant (my notes make it sound like a small, potted welwitschia). I think the plant was some sort of bioweapon that targetred Sorceresses. I don’t remember much about this story, except that I also wanted to examine SeeD getting stuck with a mission for which it is wildly ill-equipped. I think that was containing an outbreak of a biological weapon -- trying to maintain order over a civilian populous, basically a situation that they CAN’T solve with guerrillas hopped up on para-magic.

2. Crazy dream. This is either an actual dream or one of those brilliant ideas that hits you just before you fall asleep but that you can never quite recapture. The only note that I think bears mentioning reads:

“Time Compression as the world's 'debug' mode.  Everything is paused.  All dimensions can be accessed with the same ease.  Ultimecia needed Adel's power to absorb enough Sorceresses to force TC so she could debug the world.”

Then there’s some stuff about God, Satan, and Eden, Hyne is Satan or the snake (or both). 

3. Dancing Lessons. This is an orphanage story, about the kids playing war and swordfighting with sticks. Seifer humiliates Selphie in her first battle (”let’s dance”) and so she asks Irvine to help her get better (hence the title). I actually wrote more than 3000 words of this one, don’t know why it lost momentum.

4. Esthar. Looks like I started this for NaNo ‘08. This was going to be my national epic for Esthar. The central action of the story was Adel’s rise to power from impoverished beginnings. (I think the elevator pitch was something like “Les Miserables, except Cosette takes a right turn into Wicked and eventually becomes a dictator.”) Memory suggests that Adel wasn’t actually born Adel, that was the identity of the rich aristocrat Sorceress she stole after draining that woman’s powers.

 I was also adding some Ultimecia stuff in there. I think the thesis was that after Time Compression, not only is she stuck in the time loop from the game, she’s stuck in a time loop that encompasses ALL OF TIME ITSELF. Because why wouldn’t I want to complicate an already vaguely-defined time travel plot with EVEN MORE TIME TRAVEL?

5.Hourglass. Time Compression was different for everyone. What we saw in the game was Squall’s version of it -- a fairly straightforward fight with Ultimecia. Quistis wound up outside of reality, playing chess with Ultimecia (because I never met a chess metaphor I didn’t attempt to batter into submission). Ultimecia would try to persuade Quistis to join, Quistis would resist, etc. More an exercise in “what would their interaction look like?” than “what would happen?” 

(Related: I always wondered what would happen if Ultimecia recruited Quistis instead of Seifer. Quistis had equal reason to be bitter at SeeD, but you’d need a very different line of persuasion to get her to turn.)

6. Inn Between the Worlds. Canterbury Tales during Time Compression. Concept shamelessly appropriated from the World’s End collection of Sandman.

7. Knight. Looks like this was about Quistis becoming Rinoa’s knight after things fall apart with Squall. I think I wanted to dig into the role of a knight in terms of protecting a Sorceress from herself.

8. R for Rinoa. This is just V for Vendetta, but in Galbadia, with Rinoa using her Sorceress powers to SMASH THE SYSTEM. She tries doing it in secret for a while, but then... probably Quistis and Xu figure out what she’s doing. And they’re like “Hey, let’s do this RIGHT” and SeeD starts backing Rinoa as a vigilante agent to topple the regime.

9. Sailor Rinoa. Exactly what you think. After Time Compression, Rinoa finds herself on a misty plain. There’s a green-haired girl with a giant key, guarding a door with the phases of the moon on it. Pluto points Rinoa towards home.

Rinoa is a student at Garden. It’s not going well! (Spoiler alert: Rinoa is NOT GREAT at respecting authority.) Then Angelo starts talking? Rinoa becomes a magical girl! Angel Wing Illusion Wave! 

As Rinoa’s powers grow, the other magical girls start awakening. Quistis is obviously the Mercury of the group. Selphie is more a Sailor Venus but she is 100% UP FOR THIS SHIT. (Selphie: “Under the cover of darkness, we wear cute skirts and fight monsters!” Quistis: “That is LITERALLY our day job.”)

Did you see that mysterious lion-themed hero who distracted the monsters and told us to believe in ourselves? WHO CAN IT BE?

Then the “Outers” get involved. They don’t play by the same set of rules, they take this shit seriously. (Selphie: “You have to shout the name of your attack.” Xu: “I’m not doing that. Also, I brought guns.”) Also that one girl’s attacks are super-scary. “PERISH.”

10. SeeDie Hawkins day. A disastrous dance idea that is almost certainly Selphie’s fault. It combines a game of assassin/killer with high-stakes romantic expectations. You ask your chosen to the dance by “assassinating” them. And since basically everyone at the school is a trained assassin, things get intense.The little bit I wrote of this has Squall getting ambushed in the training center by NPCs (he is, naturally, clueless about the dance and Not Playing once he realizes what is happening). Quistis saves him and offers to get him out of all this insanity. PLOT TWIST: she has ulterior motives.

11. Summer vacation. Vignettes covering what the major characters did on their summer vacation. (I wrote Irvine’s and started Seifer’s.)

Irvine: Wound up as sheriff in a dusty one-chocobo town. Broke some hearts, jaws.

Seifer: Hires himself as bodyguard to two rival crime families, lures them into wiping each other out. (Yes, Yojimbo.)

Squall and Rinoa: theoretically, tourist travel. Actually, just Rinoa SMASHING THE SYSTEM wherever they go and Squall having to bail her out of jail constantly. Imagine a photo montage: odd-numbered photos are Squall looking miserable at some national monument, even-numbered photos are mugshots/newspaper pictures of Rinoa getting hauled off in handcuffs

Selphie: I think this was going to be a museum heist, but I couldn’t find a logical motivation for that to be her story. So instead I decided she booked a luxury train trip when... MURDER HAPPENS. If only we had a brilliant consulting detective on hand to crack the case!

Zell: Just an itinerary from one day in the life of Zell Dincht, local hero. (5:00 a.m., training. 5:42 a,m, rescue kitten from tree. 6:00 a.m., teach tai chi at the rec center. 7:00 a.m., pancake breakfast for scouts.)

Quistis: I don’t think I ever really cracked this one. I think it was just going to be the punchline that she’s reading everyone else’s essays and is like “must be nice.”

12. Ultimecia was right. At some point after Time Compression, Quistis realizes that they screwed up by killing Ultimecia. Quistis has realized what Ultimecia knew all along -- the world is deeply broken and, for everyone’s sake, it needs to STOP. “My name is Quistis Trepe, and I am going to end the world.”

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: As Long As You Love Me -- So What’s Your Deal?

So last week we had the first meeting of Victor and Alice in the As Long As You Love Me AU. Today, you get the other snippet I’ve written -- well, I say snippet, this thing is practically a rogue fic chapter. The main thrust is Alice giving Victor her backstory, with a Bart Curlish-type twist. We start out with the pair still on the road, Victor wondering how the hell his life has led him to being kidnapped by a murder lady, when Alice notes something. . .

"You're awfully quiet."

Victor jerked upright, blinking. "Oh. Ah – I'm sorry," he said on automatic. "I just – d-don't really know what to say."

"It was an observation, not a complaint," Alice replied. "I'm not much good at conversation myself." She nodded at the radio. "You could put that on if you like."

Well, if she was offering. . .Victor hit the button, and the dying notes of some pop hit filled the car. "That was our girl Taylor Swift with 'Out Of The Woods!'" a perky female voice chirped. "Now, a quick news bulletin – police are still searching for the missing son of cannery magnate William Van Dort. The victim, twenty-year-old Victor Van Dort, was apparently kidnapped on his way home from Spring Park two weeks ago. After an initial ransom demand, there has been no further contact with Victor or his kidnappers. Police are welcoming any tips, and Mr. and Mrs. Van Dort have put up a $5,000 reward for any information leading to his safe return. Now, let's pick things back up with NSync's 'Bye Bye Bye!'"

Victor did not think NSync capable of 'picking him up' and turned the radio back off. Alice gave him an amused look as he did. "So that's who you are. I was wondering why you brought up canned fish."

"Yes, well – most everybody knows Van Dort Fish," Victor said, feeling a touch awkward. "I think we're sold in every supermarket in the States now, and every one back in England too."

"That would explain why I don't know – I can't remember the last time I was in a real grocery store," Alice told him. "It's almost always those convenience marts you see at gas stations. Which honestly hold so much food they might as well be groceries. I've seen some selling fruit before."

"I don't know if I'd like fruit from a place that always smelled of gas," Victor admitted.

GURGLGUGHGUGHGURGGLE

Alice slowly turned her head and arched an eyebrow at his middle. "I think your stomach disagrees," she said. "That is a very loud sound to come from someone so thin."

Victor blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I – I h-haven't eaten in two days."

"Two days? And you didn't think it worthy of mention?" Alice shook her head as she looked down the road. "Well, we've got to run into a rest stop soon. I'm a bit peckish myself if I'm honest."

Victor stared at her. "I don't get you," he blurted, unable to stop himself in time.

"We've only been acquainted for a little over an hour. That's not much time to 'get' anyone."

"Y-yes, but – you're being so nice."

Alice glanced over at him. "Would you prefer it if I wasn't?"

"No! No!" Victor said hastily, holding up his hands. "But – it's just – y-you've still got their b-blood all over you."

Alice looked at her arm. "Right. . .I've got wet wipes, I'll use those before we go in."

How could she be so nonchalant about running around covered in blood?! How could she be the type of woman to stab a man to death without a single thought and yet offer to let him listen to the radio? "I – I need to know – why did you go after them? Hugo and the others?"

"Because they were vile, wicked people who made their living off the pain of others."

"Most people would have reported them to the police after finding out they did snuff films," Victor had to point out.

"Perhaps," Alice allowed. "But I'm not most people. Besides, people like Hugo almost always have an 'in' with the police. Better to make sure he gets what's coming to him, rather than just hope."

"So – so you've done this before?" Victor said, aware it was probably the dumbest question he could have asked.

"Yes – I know it's not really obvious, but I'm quite skilled at ending lives now," she said with a smirk, adjusting her grip on the wheel. "I'm – well, I suppose the flowery way of putting it would be 'holistic assassin.'"

Victor blinked. "A – what?"

Alice gave him a truly vicious grin. "I kill whoever Wonderland tells me needs killing, and inevitably they are people who would make the world a better place by their absence."

And now she was being completely confusing again. "W-Wonderland?"

Alice glanced at his baffled face. "I'm explaining this poorly, aren't I?" She drummed her fingers on the wheel, then tilted her head, listening to some invisible companion. "Good point – I should start at the beginning and stop when I come to the end, shouldn't I? All right, Victor, let me give you a bit of backstory – perhaps then you'll 'get' me. Sit up straight and pay attention."

Victor shifted in his seat. "I'm listening."

"Thank you." Alice brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes. "Up until the age of eight and a half years old, I was a perfectly ordinary, if very imaginative, little girl. My father, Arthur Liddell, was Dean of Christ Church college in Oxford university; my mother, Lorina, was a homemaker – well, I say that; we were rich enough to afford a maid, cook, and nanny – involved in various charitable causes; and my sister, Lizzie, was a free spirit who loved to read and planned to travel the world one day. We were all very happy together – it was the best life a young girl could hope for." Alice let out a nostalgic sigh, before her expression warped into one of utter hatred. "And then, like a boil, Angus Bumby erupted into our sphere."

Victor frowned. That name was familiar. . .where had he. . .the news! Yes, there had been something he'd seen in passing while browsing the web. . . "The psychiatrist?" he asked, tracking down the scrap of memory. "D-died after falling in front of a train?"

"Ah-ah – that's closer to the middle," Alice gently chastised. "We'll get to that. When I first knew him, he was an undergraduate of my father's – studying psychology, yes. He came to tea one day and, after one look at Lizzie, became totally obsessed with her. He stalked her incessantly, attempting to convince her that they were meant to be. Nothing would deter him from her – not her own loathing of him, not my father's repeated threats of police action, not even a restraining order. And then, when it finally got through his thick head that she would never willingly return his affections, he broke into our house one cold November night, raped and killed her, and used my nightlight – an antique Victorian lamp – to set the library ablaze." Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Our entire house went up in flames that night. I was the only one to escape."

Victor's jaw dropped. Terrifying as she was, to know she had experienced such tragedy. . .and so young. . . "Oh," he whispered. "I – I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault – and brace yourself, it only gets worse," Alice replied. "I was so traumatized by the loss of everyone and everything close to me, save my favorite toy rabbit, that I just – shut down. Retreated to the depths of my mind, unable to face the real world. After a year in hospital to treat my burns, it was decided I would be removed to Rutledge Asylum to recover."

"Rutledge–" Wait a minute, she'd said that everything was fine up until she was eight and a half – which meant – "At nine years old?!" Victor demanded, stunned. "That's – that's absurd! Who commits a child?"

Alice went very quiet, then turned to face him. For the first time since he'd met her, she looked genuinely surprised. "You're the only person I've ever talked to about this who thought there was something wrong with my incarceration there," she said softly. "Everyone involved saw it as a necessary evil."

"Bullshit," Victor replied. He wasn't the type to swear much, but this felt like the right sort of situation. "Why didn't they ask one of your relatives to help?"

"Ah – I didn't have any," Alice explained, eyes back on the road. "Mama and Papa were both only children, and I was a surprise child born ten years after my sister. Mama's parents had been killed in a car accident before I was even conceived, and Papa's mother died when I was still a baby. The only one I ever knew was Grandpa Liddell, and he passed about two years before the fire."

Some of the fire went out of him. "W-what about family friends?"

"Well, my father was well-liked around Christ Church, but as you might expect, most of his work colleagues balked at taking in a catatonic nine-year-old," Alice said sardonically. "Mama's friends were much the same – willing to coo over what a tragedy it was, but not willing to do much about it. The maid and cook had already left for greener pastures, and our family lawyer was only interested in how much of my inheritance he could sneak away in a cloud of legalese. The only one who wanted me was Nanny, but she'd been left rather financially strapped by the loss of her job. She visited me now and then, but she simply couldn't afford to take me in. And when she did finally find another career. . ." Alice chuckled. "Well. It wasn't exactly child-friendly, let's put it that way. And no orphanage wanted a child who simply sat around staring at the wall – except for Houndsditch, but that's again getting ahead of myself." She sighed. "Simply put, Victor – I had no one. The only thing Littlemore Hospital could do with me was foist me on Rutledge so I wasn't taking up one of their beds."

Victor dropped his head. "I see. . .it's still terrible."

"It's the way of the world," Alice said philosophically. "I wasn't the only child in there. It isn't only adults who lose their grip on reality." She rolled her eyes. "Not that I would recommend a stay in Rutledge to anyone. I wouldn't say it was as bad as good old Bedlam in the bad old days, but – the doctors found me an interesting curiosity, the nurses considered me a nuisance, and the orderlies thought of me as an easy source of rough fun."

Victor blanched. "They didn't–"

"Not that kind of fun," Alice quickly corrected him. "Though there was a pair of twins who liked to push as far as they could in that direction. I think only the fact the whole place had cameras stopped them." She smirked. "They won't be tormenting any more young girls in their care, I can tell you that much."

". . .So they were the first?" Victor asked in a small voice.

"No – I sliced one of them with a spoon after they attempted to ruin my rabbit with porridge, but actual killing came later." She hit the turn signal and moved smoothly into the right-hand lane. "We've lost the track of our story – back to business. So I was committed to Rutledge, and proceeded to spend the next ten or so years insensible to the world. Eventually, Wonderland finally got sick of me hiding out within myself, kicked me in the arse, and dragged me forcibly back to heal my broken mind."

Wonderland again. "What is Wonderland?" Victor asked, absently twisting his hands together.

"An imaginary land I came up with on my seventh birthday," Alice explained, glancing at a passing sign. "Full of nonsensical creatures and people. I visited often in the year and a half before the fire, making up new areas and new residents – I lacked for playmates when I was small, so imaginary friends were often all I had. After the loss of my family, however, the place became corrupted by my growing madness. I didn't realize what had happened until the White Rabbit came to fetch me one stormy night. I soon discovered the Queen of Hearts – one of the realm's many monarchs – had turned into a worse tyrant than normal, morphing into a terrible tentacle monster and subjugating everyone across the various sub-domains. The only way to restore Wonderland to anything resembling 'normal' was to slaughter my way across it, killing her monsters and corrupted allies before taking on the Queen herself."

Victor bit his lip. "I see. . ."

"Trying not to ask if it gave me a taste for murder?" Alice teased, giving him one of those dangerous grins. Victor shrank back in his seat. "I wouldn't say that was the catalyst. Perhaps I became rather inured to the sight of violence, but I didn't intend to turn my Vorpal Blade on anyone from the real world. Even in Wonderland, I killed only because I had to – because the alternative was staying a comatose blob in Rutledge. The Queen was simply my own darkness and madness – slaughtering her made me better. Or, at least, sane enough to be discharged. Everyone else along the way – well, I could bring them back with just a thought. Doesn't really count as murder then, does it?"

Victor knotted up his fingers. "No. . .it's just – surprising your mind would jump to killing things as a way to save yourself."

"A bit dark, perhaps," Alice allowed. "But answer me this – did your childhood dreams ever include slaying monsters or battling in war?" She glanced at him. "Or seeing the end of some hated bully?"

The image of Gordon Tannen disappearing with a scream down the throat of Blue Ben swam before his eyes. He swallowed and pulled at his shirt collar. "Point taken."

"We're never as innocent as we like to pretend," Alice said with a triumphant smirk. The turn signal clicked on again, and she proceeded down an exit. "I've just gone ahead and stopped pretending. But when I was first released from Rutledge, I was still trying my best. My great hope was that, after killing the Queen and restoring my mind – mostly – I could put all the battling behind me and start a new life. So I was discharged to the Houndsditch Home For Wayward Youth, an orphanage for troubled and destitute children. It was a work/study sort of situation – I earned my keep doing chores and helping with the children, and I also received outpatient therapy from the proprietor." Her fingers tightened again on the wheel. "One Dr. Angus Bumby."

Victor blinked rapidly. "Wait – what? You – they never caught him?!"

"Obviously not, considering you knew him as a psychiatrist from wherever you heard about his death," Alice pointed out, making him feel rather an idiot. "I don't think they let convicted felons – let alone sex offenders – work with children. How he slipped through the police's fingers, I don't know. My only guess is that he had a friend somewhere on the force who could destroy any evidence of his involvement in the fire. Which would also help explain how he got away with his other activities for so long." She gave Victor a piercing look, filled with old but still-smoldering fury and disgust. "Houndsditch, as I later found out, wasn't really an orphanage. It was a training ground for child prostitutes. The supposed savior of the poor and lost hypnotized his charges into forgetting their past, then sold them on the black market to the vilest of the vile."

Victor's stomach lurched, sending a gush of bile up his throat. He swallowed it back with an effort. He desperately wanted to accuse of her lying, of making things up to justify her hatred – but the look in her eyes. . .the truth of her words was undeniable under the force of her glare. "Oh my God. . ."

"Yes, not exactly the philanthropist he always took pains to paint himself as," Alice said, as they came up to a light. She checked for green, then went left. "He had similar plans for me – he lured me in with the promise I could forget the fire and move on with my life, when his actual goal was to make sure I could never finger him for the crime by turning me into one of his empty-minded little puppets. He claimed there were men lined up and waiting for a 'raving delusional beauty,' but I have trouble believing I wouldn't have ended up as his personal sex slave." Her jaw clenched. "Lizzie and I look rather alike, you see."

It all abruptly clicked together in Victor's mind. "He was the first. You pushed him into that train, didn't you?"

"Eventually," Alice confirmed. "I didn't realize who he was when I first arrived. Even without his help, I'd repressed a lot about the fire and what had happened immediately before. It took about a year's stay in Houndsditch and another trip through a rotting Wonderland – this time corrupted by Bumby's avatar, the Dollmaker, and the Infernal Train of forgetting he had me build – before I understood the truth. And then, when I did. . .I confronted him in Moorgate Station. I told him I would see him charged. And he laughed in my face. Said it was highly unlikely anyone would ever believe the words of a former lunatic. Especially mine against his. So when it looked like he would escape justice–" One hand came up and mimed a shove. "I decided to bring justice to him."

A lifetime of societal rules and regulations demanded that Victor be horrified – that he call the woman driving a monster, condemn her for declaring herself judge, jury, and executioner. But the only horror he felt was at the cruel twists of fate that had led her to do the deed in the first place. Damn it all, how could anyone blame her for wanting revenge? Tell her that someone like that – a rapist, a murderer, a – a child pimp – deserved to live? If he'd been in her place, Victor was almost certain he would have done the exact same thing, and damn the consequences. "Good," he said softly. "If anyone needed to die, it was him." He hesitated, then added, "But – why keep on killing, if you'd avenged your family and saved the orphans?"

"Because. . ." Alice pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on the wheel, contemplating. "Because when I pushed him onto those tracks, saw the train whisk away his body. . .it felt – right. Like my will and the universe were finally in line. And when I exited the station, I entered a world where Wonderland – the nicer version – and London had merged together. A world where I didn't have to go catatonic or wander about ranting and raving to see my friends, nor endure the East End's ugly scenery to go shopping or say hello to passing people on the street. A world that I could navigate on my own terms. I couldn't help thinking of it as a reward. Proof that the universe approved of my actions."

"I'm sure the police didn't," Victor couldn't help saying.

Alice grinned as they approached another light. "They didn't think anything at all of them. I was never caught. I fled, of course – I fully expected a manhunt for me to start before the day was out. But then every paper started reporting Bumby's death as a tragic accident. And when I did a little investigating. . .well. I'd already known there were no human eyewitnesses to my crime – the station had been strangely empty that afternoon. But I thought for sure the security cameras would have fingered me." Up went the point-making finger as they turned into a parking lot. "Except – right as we confronted each other – every camera at Moorgate mysteriously failed. A station-wide glitch. They were restored an hour later, but by then it was too late to see me. And none of the other evidence they could dig up could conclusively prove I was there."

Victor stared as they parked. "But – that's just a coincidence," he insisted, as much to himself as her. "You can't – you can't seriously believe that the universe covered your tracks for you."

"'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth,'" Alice replied. "Sherlock Holmes. I would have passed it off as a mere lucky fluke myself if, when I was trying to figure out whether I not I should return to Houndsditch, Caterpillar flew by and insisted I needed to take a different path. I followed him, and ended up at the lair of a few of Bumby's compatriots." She turned off the car. "I knew what Bumby did, but not where he did it or who with. How could I have found that place if I hadn't been guided there? But the clincher was these three men, all built like brick privies, promptly descended on me – whether out of anger, greed, or sheer lust – and I got a knife away from one of them and slaughtered the lot. Without even a bruise for my trouble." She pulled out her keys and spun them around her finger. "I'll give Bumby this – he was right that we all have a purpose. And mine is to destroy those who would otherwise get away with their crimes. To stop the other Bumbys of the world, in all their guises. Child slavers. Pimps. Rapists." She glanced at him. "Snuff film directors."

For a moment, Victor was back in that dark closet, listening to the meaty thwuks and thunks outside. "So you've just – wandered around, finding people to kill?"

"Not quite 'wandered' – as I told you, Wonderland tells me where I need to go, and who my targets are," Alice corrected. "My friends can be a bit cryptic at times, but they have yet to steer me wrong. Open the glove box and get me the wet wipes, will you?"

"What? Oh," Victor said, looking around and realizing they were parked in front of a diner. He fiddled with the glove compartment and got it open, handing over the package. He watched for a second as she pulled one out and ran it over her arms. "You – you don't kill everyone you meet, do you?" he asked hesitantly.

Alice smiled. It was – a surprisingly nice smile. "You're still here."

"But why?"

Victor regretted the words the moment they left his lips. Did he really want her to think about why he was with her in the car alive? His survival was dependent on the goodwill of a set of very vivid hallucinations, and if this provoked them. . .

"Because Cheshire says you're important," Alice replied, doing her face. "He wouldn't say why, but it appears your purpose and mine intersect for a while. And goodness knows I could use some company that doesn't originate from inside my own skull." She balled up the now-pink wipe and stuck it in her pocket. "Let's get some food in you. And then. . .where's your hometown? Or closest equivalent to, as you sound an expat like myself."

Victor surprised himself by laughing at that. "Yes, well. . .currently it's a little town called Hill Valley," he said. "Er – do you have any idea where we are now?"

"I wasn't paying that much attention to the names, but I know we're in the southern part of California. Where's Hill Valley?"

"Up north – if I remember correctly, Route 395 goes right through it," Victor told her.

"Excellent. Then we'll head north." She grinned at him, friendly with just a hint of danger. "And we'll see what happens along the way."