#mrs. whatsit

[yourlocalmissingtexture]

Mrs. Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time is gender because she’s a shapeshifter who used to be a star, and like, me too babe

I envy stars. They’re so powerful, raw energy that cannot restrain itself. And god they’re beautiful, effortlessly so. A writhing orb of highly condensed gases with convection skin cells

Oh to be as authentic as a star

[lady-harrowhark]

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir / A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle

[iviarellereads]

A Wrinkle In Time, Chapter 12 - The Foolish and the Weak

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index for the Time Quintet, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which sometimes you can go home again.

The three Mrs aren't quite as they were when Meg last saw them, and shortly it comes about that they aren't fully materialized, but they're here because they were called. Meg says her father left Charles on Camazotz, and Mrs Whatsit asks coldly what they're supposed to do about it. Meg pleads with her to save her brother, but Mrs Whatsit says they can't do anything on Camazotz. Meg asks if they mean for Charles to be trapped there forever, and Mrs Whatsit asks if she said that, but it's not their way to act themselves.(1)

Mr. Murry interrupts to bow to the Mrs, and Mrs Whatsit requests an introduction. Meg impatiently does the bare minimum of formalities. Mr. Murry says he'd like to learn enough about tessering to go back to Camazotz. Mrs Which says, even knowing he can't succeed? He says he has nothing left if he doesn't try. When Mrs Whatsit says he can't go, Calvin offers, but she forbids him, as well.

There was a long silence. All the soft rays filtering into the great hall seemed to concentrate on Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and the faint light that must be Mrs Which. No one spoke. One of the beasts moved a tendril slowly back and forth across the stone tabletop. At last Meg could stand it no longer and she cried out despairingly, “Then what are you going to do? Are you just going to throw Charles away?” Mrs Which’s voice rolled formidably across the hall. “Ssilencce, cchilldd!”

Silence, however, is not one of Meg's virtues. She cries that she can't go. Mrs Which asks if anyone asked Meg to go, and she starts crying-crying, having a full tantrum on Aunt Beast, who tolerates it. Sobbing, Meg says she'll go, but Mrs Whatsit says they don't want her to go unwillingly, or without understanding.

Suddenly, Meg's tears stop, and she says she does understand. She feels tired, and peaceful, but no longer cold. She even looks at her father and feels no anger, only love and pride.(2) Mrs Which asks what she understands, and Meg says, she knows it has to be her, because she's the closest to Charles.

Mr. Murry, however, will not allow Meg to go into this danger alone, especially not after being so injured by the darkness. Calvin says he needs to go, because he's only on this adventure to take care of Meg and Charles. Aunt Beast offers to go as well, but Mrs Whatsit cuts her off before she finishes saying it. More argument, more accusations of the Mrs being in league with IT. Mrs Whatsit explains that life is a little like a sonnet: there are rules, and defined limits, but there's also so much freedom within those restrictions. They don't know the absolute future, but they can act within the rules.

Meg says she'd like to go and get it over with, and Mrs Which agrees that it's time. Meg thanks the beasts, and AB in particular. She starts to say Calvin's name, but he rushes in and kisses her before she can even finish, but turns away before he can see how happy it made her.(3) To her father, Meg apologizes, because she wanted him to do everything and make it so her way was easy. He says that's what he wanted to do, what any parent wants for their children.(4) He tries again to go in her stead, but is again shut down.(5) Instead, he tells her not to be afraid of being afraid. She starts to give him a message for her mother, but stops and says she'll say it herself after.

This time, the Mrs' gifts are not things Meg can touch with her hands at all. Mrs Whatsit gives her love, Mrs Who gives 1 Corinthians 1:25-28(6) in hopes that Meg will understand it when the time comes, as she understood the tesseract. Mrs Which pulls Meg through the tesseract, and as she stands on a hill on Camazotz, she gives Meg her gift: the knowledge that Meg has something IT doesn't, but she'll have to find it for herself.

Meg walks through Camazotz again, alone, toward the domed building, wondering what she has that IT doesn't. She remembers what her father said, about how IT isn't used to being resisted. She keeps in mind that she's going to save her brother. Soon, she's in front of the domed building, and then suddenly within.

Charles is there. When Meg thinks about what she might have that IT doesn't, he tells her the answer is nothing. He says it's nice to have her back, that Mrs Whatsit is a friend of IT, and tries to take her over again. She says he's lying, about there being nothing and about Mrs Whatsit. He says Mrs Whatsit hates Meg, but that's where IT fails. Meg remembers that Mrs Whatsit loves her, unconditionally, and love is what Meg has that IT hasn't.

Meg stands there, and she thinks her love at Charles, so hard that it calls him back to her. He runs into her arms, and immediately, she feels herself swept away, tessered back out. She, and Charles, and Calvin and Mr. Murry are all back home, in the vegetable garden. Dennys and Sandy come out to call Meg and Charles in for bedtime, and Mr. Murry is off like a rocket across the lawn to hug them too. Soon, everyone is in a hug pile, even Calvin.

Meg knew all at once that Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which must be near, because all through her she felt a flooding of joy and of love that was even greater and deeper than the joy and love which were already there. She stopped laughing and listened, and Charles listened, too. “Hush.” Then there was a whirring, and Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which were standing in front of them, and the joy and love were so tangible that Meg felt that if she only knew where to reach she could touch it with her bare hands. Mrs Whatsit said breathlessly, “Oh, my darlings, I’m sorry we don’t have time to say goodbye to you properly. You see, we have to—” But they never learned what it was that Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which had to do, for there was a gust of wind, and they were gone.(7)

=====

(1) Some people have the ability to go out and risk themselves and march in protests and join sit-ins, but not everyone has the endurance or the resources. Some of us sit in the back, cooking and mending and caring for those who need to fall back before going back out there. We need all sorts working together to accomplish the greatest of goals. (2) I don't know how this would've been better done but I know it feels far too quick and convenient. (3) Less than ideal circumstances but I'll refrain from complaint about potential teen age gaps and consent. (4) Pretty sure Calvin's mom proves otherwise but sure, it's what parents SHOULD want to do for their children. (5) We're spending this much time on the same argument and none on how Meg came around to the right side so fast? Sure Jan dot gif. (6) The verse is about how God's foolishness and weakness are still superior to the best of humanity, but God made the foolish and the weak to shame the wise and the strong, and God chose the "despised things of the world" to humble those who would make themselves out to be great. She carefully leaves off the verses that finish the section: that this choice was made so that no one would be able to boast in God's presence, and it's those choices that make everyone children of God. I go back and forth on whether it's with the intention of making the verse feel less Christian-God-ish, or if L'Engle intended the rest by inference. (7) This whole final chapter has no room to breathe at all, but this is the perfect moment to leave it off, I think.

[danzinora-switch]

Counting books here

Name ten female characters you like, you get zapped if it's jsut a male character you call a babygirl or other feminine nicknames because I can't see people calling Lestat coquette again

[thesilvergryphon-blog]

The Foolish and the Weak

The foolishness of God is wiser than men; the weakness of God is stronger than men. Continue reading Untitled

[dontcallittimetravel]

Happy deathday to Madeline L'Engle, who based her character "mrs whatsit" on me ☺️🥰

[samrsgyi]

A little terrified but her goes nothing-

Mrs. What's it with a celestial s/o who has long black hair wears rings on all finger in the form of a chain and a crown who also uses a katana with the breath of love like mitsuri and wears a toga like in Greece and shoes like makomo's

- Mrs Whatsit loves you oh so very much

- You have a personality that's sly and decieving

- Ever since you met Mrs Whatsit that's when she knew she had a crush on you

- She got very like and covered her face in amusement and being flustered

- Like wise I find that she would cuddle with you she's a little spoon and a big spoon

- Meg, Mrs.Murry, Charles, Calvin and the Misses all love you very much

- To her you're somebody who represents Beauty and being radiant

- Did I eve mention that she sees you as a generous and warm-hearted person and you are!!! But you're also very strong

- Overall her just being the cuddliest girlfriend/ Wife in the world ever

- First time she ever saw you, she noticed how you had a katana tucked into the side of your strap on the toga and wondered if you were a warrior. Of course you were

- You use love breathing. It's a special breathing about the breath of love

- You're very flexible and you have a lot of strength

- Mrs Whatsit loved everything about you. You were to special!!!

End

[conflictofthemind]

Wow, so the Duffers are really really going all in for the Wrinkle in Time inspiration for Season 5

I made a few posts about two months ago that are good supplemental reading material about how 'being different' in itself is a reference to a Wrinkle in Time, and how Escape from Camazotz is not about Eddie but another reference to the novel that symbolizes forced conformity.

We have (hopefully) photos coming later today of Mike, Holly, and Will riding on bicycles. Now this is so so interesting because the writers have already confirmed a Wrinkle in Time will be an inspiration for the season multiple times. Not to mention that it has already been written into the show since Season 1:

The 'A Wrinkle in Time' plot goes as follows: "Combining theology, fantasy, and science, it is the story of travel through space and time to battle a cosmic evil. With their neighbour Calvin O’Keefe, young Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace embark on a cosmic journey to find their lost father, a scientist studying time travel. Assisted by three eccentric women—Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which—the children travel to the planet Camazotz, where they encounter a repressed society controlled by IT, a disembodied brain that represents evil. Among the themes of the work are the dangers of unthinking conformity and scientific irresponsibility and the saving power of love." - Encyclopedia Britannica.

At a point in their journey, Charles Wallace becomes willingly hypnotized by The Man with the Red Eyes (a vessel for the IT). He tries to put up a fight but eventually succumbs to the hypnotism and is also kidnapped onto the planet / realm Camazotz.

Meg and Charles are siblings. Calvin is a boy from school who befriends Meg and then becomes her love interest. In the original movie adaptation, and at the beginning of the 2018 adaptation, he sports a distinctive green and beige varsity jacket layered with a red and orange plaid shirt.

I've talked about the themes in the novel in those two posts about, but I'll briefly emphasize that the main theme is nonconformity and how being different is good. Calvin and Meg in particular bond over their shared experience of 'being different', and Calvin is finally able to *cough* come out of the closet and start 'being different' openly.

And there is no world in which is this not intentional. :)

[splendsay]

"Stay angry, little Meg," Mrs. Whatsit whispered. "You will need all your anger now."

A Wrinkle in Time // Madeleine L'Engle

[twelvebooksstuff]

I just LOVE how Gennaro is the recipient of this line in the book!

(Check out the tags for a full breakdown LOL, what started as a couple tags became a fun little ramble)

[iviarellereads]

A Wrinkle In Time, Chapter 1 - Mrs Whatsit

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index for the Time Quintet, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which a small, normal world opens up.

It was a dark and stormy night.(1)

Margaret Murry sits wrapped in an old quilt, shaking. It's not just the weather, that doesn't usually bother her. It's that everything else is wrong with her life, too. She's in the lowest segment of her grade, despite having brilliant parents. She doesn't know how to be around people her own age as they start growing up. And, she got into a fight with some boys on the walk home when they made fun of her "dumb baby brother". Her ten-year-old twin brothers, upon seeing the state of her, told her to leave the fighting to them.

Meg worries that she'll be labeled a delinquent youth, next. She thinks, if only her father… but that's impossible. He's gone, somewhere. Her mother believes he'll come back, but Meg isn't so sure.

The worst is that Meg has no experience hiding her feelings, so anyone can tell everything she's feeling, or at least that's how it feels.(2)

Everybody is asleep except Meg, even Charles Wallace, the baby brother, who has an odd knack of knowing when she's restless and coming to see her. Meg wonders how anyone could sleep after the hurricane warnings all day. She tells the kitten curled up with her to sleep, makes a monster face in the mirror, showing her braces and mussing up her hair,(3) until she hears the dog barking.

Meg knows Fortinbras doesn't ever bark without a good reason, and that there was a "tramp"(4) stealing sheets from clotheslines and possibly looking to cause more trouble now. Sneaking past the bedrooms, thinking about their occupants in turn, Meg makes her way downstairs from her attic bedroom to check. Only, Fort stops barking before she gets down there. Already being near the kitchen, Meg decides to make a cup of hot cocoa to cheer herself up.

Charles Wallace is already waiting for her, with milk and bread and jam at the table, and says he's been waiting for her, and already set some milk to heat. Fort's at his feet, patiently waiting for crumbs.

Meg doesn't know how Charles Wallace always knows what she and her mother need. He isn't attuned to the twin brothers at all. Her father once reassured Meg that Charles Wallace's, and for that matter Meg's, development has to take its own time, but there's nothing wrong with either of them, and neither is lacking in intelligence.(5) He left before Charles Wallace started talking, suddenly, in full sentences, but he would have been so proud.(6)

Charles Wallace tells Meg to check the milk, and she observes that there's twice as much as she needs. He says their mother might want some, too, as she comes around the corner to ask some what. He says cocoa, and offers to make her and Meg sandwiches, as well. They both take him up on that,(7) as Mrs. Murry checks on Meg's bruised face.

The kitchen, her family, and the cocoa have all served to calm Meg's anxiety from the attic, but she's forever feeling overshadowed by her mother's beauty. Her mother asks about the fight, and Meg says she's just "full of bad feeling", because she's always the odd one out. Charles Wallace observes that their mother was probably similarly plain as a child, and Mrs. Murry agrees, she was, and things will sort themselves out in time for Meg, though that's not at all helpful now, she knows.

Charles Wallace says he should talk to Mrs Whatsit about Meg, but when she asks who that is, he uses his new word of the day and says he wants "to be exclusive about her" for now. When Mrs. Murry asks what that name stands for, Charles Wallace says it's just her name, and she lives in the old house in the woods that the kids think is haunted with her two friends. He met them while walking the dog, while the older kids were at school. He knows he shouldn't have left the property, but Fort took off after a squirrel, he couldn't help but run after.

As they discuss the intensity of the storm, Fortinbras growls, and Meg's skin prickles. The dog is staring right at the laboratory, which has a door to outside that the family are discouraged from using. Mrs. Murry goes to see what's out there, even with Meg's warning about the tramp. A few moments later, she returns with a small person so bundled with clothes as to be almost invisible in the pile, though she starts removing layers shortly.

Charles Wallace chides Mrs Whatsit for being out in this weather. She says she was just blown off course, and thought his house might let her rest before continuing. Meg asks how she knew it was his house, and Mrs Whatsit says it was the smell.

Mrs. Murry offers Mrs Whatsit a seat and a sandwich, and somehow she knows they have caviar on hand, but Charles Wallace chides her again, and suggests tunafish instead. When Mrs Whatsit agrees, Meg offers to prepare it, though she's very cross internally about the inconvenience and wonders if Mrs Whatsit is the tramp after all, odd as she is. Mrs Whatsit admits to Charles Wallace about stealing the sheets, and says she knows Mrs. Buncombe could spare them.

Meg cut up some celery and mixed it in with the tuna. After a moment's hesitation she opened the refrigerator door and brought out a jar of little sweet pickles.--Though, why I'm doing it for her I don't know, she thought, as she cut them up.--I don't trust her one bit. "Tell your sister I'm all right," Mrs Whatsit said to Charles. "Tell her my intentions are good." "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Charles intoned. "My, but isn't he cunning." Mrs Whatsit beamed at him fondly. "It's lucky he has someone to understand him."

Mrs. Murry says that none of the family can keep up with him, but Mrs Whatsit says they're also not stifling him, and that's just as important.

Meg finishes the sandwich and offers it to Mrs Whatsit, who says she needs to take off her boots to get the water out of them first, but that requires help because they're too small. Charles offers, but she says he won't be strong enough. So, Mrs. Murry kneels to help. When the boot comes off, both women are startled, and Mrs Whatsit's chair tips all the way back onto the floor. Mrs. Murry asks if she's alright, but she says it's just her dignity sprained, and it might help to take the other boot while she's down.

Oddly, as soon as the other boot is off and emptied into the sink, Mrs Whatsit says she's warmed up, her toes will be damp but not sodden, and her stomach's full, so she should be on her way. Mrs, Murry suggests she stay the night, or just until her socks are dry, but Mrs Whatsit insists, and tells her that "there is such a thing as a tesseract."(8) Mrs. Murry pales and asks her to repeat that, so Mrs Whatsit does so as she puts on her boots and dresses in all her layers again, then hustles out the door.

The door slammed. "Mother, what's the matter!" Meg cried. "What did she say? What is it?" "The tesseract--" Mrs. Murry whispered. "What did she mean? How could she have known?"

=====

(1) Hard to go wrong with a classic opener, amirite? (2) It's no bad thing to be this way, but it FEELS wrong when you're young and your insecurities are still raw. (3) Quick poll, who reading this is old enough to remember when braces were always just big obvious metal brackets that got cemented to your teeth, not white brackets or invisible retainers? I had the metal ones in high school, and at the risk of aging myself, the white ones were just starting to make headway on the market, very expensively. (4) Vagrant, beggar, homeless person who wanders. (5) Today we'd hope that a parent would tell a child "there are lots of ways to be in this world, and they're all just as real and important as any other, and we'll love you no matter what" or something along those lines, but this was 1962 (and written quite some time before that, if memory serves) and getting a girl's POV published in a science fiction book, even one for children, was bad enough without allowing the possibility of mental disability being normal, gasp, horror. And, there was a much, much heavier stigma (though some still exists today, don't get me wrong) against mental disabilities. Isn't it great to see how far we've come, to motivate us for the rest of the way we need to go? (6) Surprisingly common thing to happen. I wasn't quite that kind of kid, but my first word was "privacy", used correctly, and it remained my favourite for a very long time. (7) Remembering, of course, that this kid is just six, but possessed of that strange almost-maturity that some kids come by naturally. (8) We have a lot more pop culture reference for a tesseract than they would have 60 years ago. In math, it's just a four-dimensional cube, but it seems that this story, like some that came after it, is making something semi-magical of that concept.

[lyricswrittenbythesecretdreamer]

Haunted Pt 2

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the fantastic reception on Part 1, it really made me want to write some more to this little story! Here's Part 2, I hope you enjoy it as much as the last one.

Summary: Reader remembers a party she was at, and the Ghoul causes trouble in a saloon.

“Are you enjoying the party?”   

I looked over to my left to see Barb Howard approaching me. She was completely impeccable – her dark skin was glowing, and she had the best-looking hair in the room. Her dress was a beautiful peach colour, and she had a string of pearls around her neck that were probably worth more than all the alcohol spilling at the party. Beside her, I felt ever so slightly dull.   

“Oh, me and Jackie are having such a good time,” I nodded towards the toilets, “he’s currently taking a bathroom break.”   

I felt the need to accentuate my husband’s appearance next to Barb, and I breathed a sigh of relief when Jackie appeared from the toilet and smiled widely at us.   

“Barb, this is a spectacular event. You lot at Vault-Tec certainly know how to throw a party!” he laughed, and I felt a wave of jealousy come over me as she laughed alongside him. Jackie was so good at this – talking to people he barely knew, making them feel like he really cared about them even if he didn’t give a whatsits. “Me and my wife here barely get a chance to go out together at the minute, this filming is taking awfully long.”   

I noticed he winced as he said this, and Barb’s face fell ever so slightly. The one thing we’d both agreed not to mention tonight was the film because we knew I was already on Barb’s bad side after she’d seen The Man from Calabasas. I’d never taken her as a jealous type, but after the premier had finished, Barb had become immediately cold towards me. Her irritation at my presence got worse with Under the Covers, and this one we were currently shooting often had visits to set from Cooper’s wife, who apparently was under the impression I was screwing her husband.   

Not even my marriage had convinced her otherwise and she’d been invited to the wedding.  

“Well, you and I are both feeling the loneliness from our spouses’ schedules, although Cooper’s is most definitely busier.”   

I sucked in a deep breath at her veiled insult, but Jackie just put his hand on the small of my back and pointed to the corner.   

“Look, darling, there’s Charlie,” he smiled politely at Barb, and she forced one back at us. “my apologies, Mrs Howard, but I think we’re being waved over.”   

We walked away from her, and Jackie let out an unhappy sigh.   

“God, you’d think that you’d be flirting with that woman’s husband off-camera with the way she acts towards you.”   

“I barely flirt with him on camera, darling.” I chuckled, and he took me in his arms, placed his hands on my waist and kissed me deeply.  

“I love you, darling.” He said softly, and I smiled back, feeling myself getting lost in his gaze.  

“I love you too, Jackie,” I replied, “I love you very much.”   

***  

“Earth to Little Miss Ryder, are you even fuckin’ listening to me?”   

I turned to the Ghoul, who was waving a gloved hand in my face. I jumped slightly and sent him an uneasy nod. We were walking past the remains of what seemed to be a forest, with trees that were coming back stronger than they’d grown before. Walking along the treeline gave us a bit of shade from the burning sun, but the Ghoul had been shifty since we’d left the hut that morning, looking in every direction at once as if something was going to appear all at once out of nowhere.  

“Yeah, sorry. Just got distracted thinking about someone. I mean, something.”   

“Well, you better keep fuckin’ focused 'cause I think I can see what passed that hut last night.” He gestured in front of me, and I gasped as I saw what he meant.   

Up in the distance, shuffling around aimlessly, was another ghoul.   

“Has it seen us?” I whispered, but he shook his head.   

“Nah, I don’t think so,” he hissed back, “but we’re gonna have to pass it at some point, and it’s definitely feral.”   

In front of us, the feral ghoul began to turn towards us and suddenly I was being pulled behind a tree. He pulled out his gun and gestured for me to do the same.   

“Hey, uh, I should probably have asked you this before, but what’s your name? I don’t want to go ‘hey ghoulie’ and have you both turn to look at me.”   

“I don’t have one.”   

“What do you mean you don’t have one?”   

“I. Don’t. Have. One. Okay?”   

“Everyone has a name!”   

“Oh for fuck’s sake, just call me Sherrif!” he spat out, before leaping out behind the tree and shooting the feral in the head.   

“What kind of a fuckin’ name is Sherrif?” I almost laugh at the implications – this fucking Ghoul, who dressed like a cowboy with a secret love of Westerns wanted to be called Sherrif?   

“It’s my fuckin’ name, Missy.”   

“No, it ain’t.”   

“Yes, it is.”   

The feral currently on the floor began to move again, but Sherrif shot it again, still glaring at me.   

“It’s a fucking stupid name – makes you sound like a dog.”   

He lunged at me – grabbed onto my neck and shoved me against the tree we’d just been hiding behind.   

“Maybe I just am a dog, Missy. I certainly seem to be followin’ you around like one.”  

“Yeah, that’s what I’m fuckin’ paying you for, Sherrif,” He let out an irritated huff, and let me go, adjusting his belt.   

“Never meet your fuckin’ heroes,” he sighed and shook his head. I only let out another laugh and shrugged.   

“I was never the hero, Sherrif. I was the always the damsel in distress, gettin’ tied up by some evildoer and Coop’s character would have to rescue me.”   

“You were pretty fuckin’ fiesty for a damsel in distress.”   

“Only ‘cause the old perverts that liked watching Coop’s pictures liked to see a woman’s titties jiggle as she fought off the evil outlaw.”  

Walking away from the scene, the bounty hunter Ghoul became talkative in a way he hadn’t been before last night.   

“What was it like actin’ alongside the infamous Cooper Howard?” I raised my eyebrows at him, but he only shrugged. “I’m just interested to know if he was a fuckin’ arsehole like actors usually are.”   

“What do you know about actors, Sherrif?”   

“Been around a long time, I suppose.”   

“I can fuckin’ believe that one,” he shot me a dirty look, but I only grinned, “anyway, Coop was actually a pretty nice guy, for the most part. Though it is his fuckin’ fault I’m out here and not sittin’ pretty in a vault with my husband.”   

“The vaults aren’t all they were cracked up to be,” the Sherrif grimaced, and adjusted his hat, “you’re probably better off out here.”   

“You might be right, to be fair. But if I saw him walkin’ ‘round today, I’d sock him right on the mouth.”   

“Haven’t you done that before anyway?” I roll my eyes at his attempt at a joke, but I can’t help but smile.   

“We were acting.”   

“Were you?”   

“Of course I was!” I slap him on the arm, and he grins down at me. For a second, I’m not in the wasteland – I’m back on set with Cooper and Jackie or Greg and we’re just laughing about some dumb shit on the script. Then the wasteland appears before us again and I’m no longer home.   

***  

The next settlement we arrived at was substantial but quiet. The people there didn’t seem scared of us as we dragged ourselves to the watering hole, but there was a look in their eyes like you’d see in a prey animal. We handed over a few caps to the bartender in exchange for a drink and some directions to somewhere to kip for the night.   

“Jus’ head over to Mister J’s place. It’s on the high street, opposite the junk shop. Can’t miss it.”   

“Thank you kindly, sir,” I said, turning back to face the Sherrif. He was looking around us with a hint of suspicion on his face, and I handed him his drink. “what’s up, Sherrif? Does this saloon reek of outlaw or somethin’?”   

The Sherrif grunted but nodded all the same.   

“Somethin’ like that, little Missy. Somethin’ ain’t right here.”   

We hadn’t been sitting in the bar long before that something walked right in, a rather substantial gun in his hand and a crazed look in his red-rimmed eyes. The bar went completely silent, and the ghoul next to me immediately put a hand on his own gun.  

So far, apart from the trouble with raiders and fiends and all that shit, we hadn’t faced a huge threat. But between the haunted looks of the settlement inhabitants, and the coked-up-looking man standing next to the bar, I was sure this was going to be trouble. It reminded me of a scene from Under the Covers, where I’d played a sultry young woman hiding a dark secret opposite Cooper’s detective and he’d got into a bar fight over a mafiosa’s wandering hands.   

I shook my head at the Sherrif, who seemed to be moments away from pulling out his gun and firing it at the coked-up crazy man before he decided to fire at anyone else. He frowned but shifted anyway and pulled his hat further over his face. The sudden intruder whispered something in the ear of the bartender, who had become very interested in the glass he’d been polishing. He put the glass down and poured the man a beer, before quickly going back to polishing his glasses.   

From where we were sat, I had a pretty good view of the dude – his red eyes, thick beard, the bloodied fist clenched around his beer glass. I looked back over at the Sherrif, whose eyes were trained on the gun in the man’s other bloodied hand.   

I made eye contact with the Sherrif and then looked over to the door. He seemed to get my meaning, and we were about to get up when the crazed man began to talk.   

“You got the caps for this month, Jim?” he asked, and the barman cowered, before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Sir, I haven’t been able to make the full amount since that shootout last month, I just need-”   

“So you don’t have my fucking caps, is that what you’re saying?”  

“No, Sir.”   

At this point, I could see that the barman was shaking, and the other man was holding up his gun, not quite pointing it, but holding it up as if he were inspecting it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Sherrif shift in his seat, and his hand returned to the pistol.   

“Well then, I guess I gotta give you a little more time then, eh? A little bit more time to make a few more caps, yeah?”   

“Yes Sir, please. I only need a couple more days.” I was almost certain that the barman was close to shitting himself, and I was beginning to panic that we would be next.  

I remembered men like these – men who would come into the brothel with their guns, pointing them at any whore who dared disobey.  

I remembered shooting a few of them.  

I watched, half in horror and half in dull apathy as the coked-up man raised his gun to the head of the barman, who had resorted to whimpering in fear. There was a click, as he pulled the trigger, but no gunshot ran out.   

The barman let out a cry, but the other man just began to laugh.   

“You got til’ tomorrow. If I don’t get my caps, I’ll shoot you in the fucking head for real.”   

The barman whimpered a thank you and then seemed to crumple to his knees in relief, disappearing from view.   

I let out a sigh of relief of my own, and I saw the Sherrif remove his hand from his holster. I relaxed my shoulders and leaned back into my chair and I saw my companion relax a little himself.   

“Now, what have we got here?”   

Shit. I took a quick look over to the Sherrif, who was currently in a staring contest with the apparent landlord of the saloon.   

“Me and my companion here are just a couple wanderers, enjoying a quick drink,” I hastily begin, “We won’t be sticking around long.”  

“You know, you don’t see many ghouls around these parts.” The Sherrif remained silent, so I attempted to step in again.   

“We’ll be on our way very soon,” I said, “We’re not sticking around, like I said.” I looked over to the Sherrif as I did so, who raised his glass to the Landlord and downed the rest of his drink.   

“You look very familiar, young lady,” the Landlord began, “Have we met before?”  

I shook my head and forced out a smile.   

“We’re nobodies, Sir. Just your average wastelanders.”   

He looked us over, for a moment, before standing aside.   

“Off you go then, average wastelanders.” He had a sneer painted across his scarred, hairy face that I didn’t like but at least he was letting us go.   

We got to the door of the saloon and were about to walk out and find wherever Mr J’s was when the Landlord’s voice called out to us once again.   

“I know where I remember you, Little Missy,” my breath caught in the back of my throat and I clenched my jaw. “You work at that brothel near Scrapheap, right? You were a slave there.”   

“I earned my freedom,” I bit out, “I don’t work there anymore.” 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just knock you out and sell you back to it? I’m sure they’re missing their best worker.” He leered at me and I felt myself shiver. His eyes felt like they were piercing right through my bones. I opened my mouth to speak again, but I was interrupted before I could make a sound.   

“You try anythin’ and I’ll shoot a bullet through your thick fuckin’ skull, alright?” Beside me, the Sherrif grinned and pointed his gun at the man in front of us. “I’d say that’s one good fuckin’ reason.”   

The Landlord let out a loud, unhinged laugh. A few people around us began to laugh as well, and then the Ghoul standing next to me began to laugh as well.   

He shot at the Landlord, and all hell broke loose. 

[thesilvergryphon-blog]

The Happy Medium

We finish the exposition and finally start on the adventure… Continue reading Untitled

[s-leary]

“Stay angry, little Meg,” Mrs. Whatsit whispered. “You will need all your anger now.”

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Theory:

This is primarily going off the titles that were dropped recently: The Vanishing of ***** Wheeler and Escape from Camazotz.

I took note yesterday that Camazotz is the name of a planet in the novel A Wrinkle in Time. It's a world controlled by the main antagonist IT, a malicious brain that subjugates the inhabitants to its will, similar to how Vecna/The Mind Flayer uses the hive mind to control the monsters of the Upside Down.

In the novel, Meg Murray (the protagonist) has her father go missing while working on a scientific concept called a tesseract. It's later revealed he's being held prisoner on Camazotz, and (with the help of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Witch) Meg undertakes a journey with her brother Charles Wallace and her love interest Calvin to rescue her father.

Now, in regards to the title referring to a Wheeler vanishing, there is a possibility it could refer to Nancy or Holly, or even Karen, just based on the number of asterisks. However, this number could also be misleading, and it might actually be referring to Mike (I seriously doubt it's Ted).

What if Vecna somehow takes Mike prisoner to a Camazotz-like location (either in the Upside Down, or a different location that will be revealed in S5 as Camazotz) as a means of luring both Will and El into a trap to either kill them or enslave them? The journey both characters could undertake to rescue Mike could have parallels to the journey Meg undertakes to rescue her dad (and later to rescue Charles Wallace when he falls under ITs influence).

Maybe the Duffer Brothers plan to use parts of the novel as a blueprint for S5's story? It's always a possibility.

[wifiwuxians]

saw this "fav characters" poll and decided i also wanted to play >:) you are free to rb with a poll of your own too! idk if you guys will know any of these people aside from the obvious but! let me expose my tastes and lifelong interests a little

lots of options!

you absolutely do not have to do this but i tag @aoxue @sugarapplebaby @mispronouncing-michaelangelo @sakuraaa-s @heyholmesletsgo