#she only interacted with twice pike and just barely!!

[dearemma]

i loved everything about strange new worlds, but to be honest, chapel has been a highlight for me and i was also so happy that you made gifs for her since i have been following you for a while and your creations are always so lovely!

fingers crossed that they don't shorten her screen time in the future seasons. the majority of fans seem to love her a lot. never could have imagined that chapel would become my favorite star trek character ever.

thank you so much ♥♥ i just love giffing christine, tbh. jess has such an expressive and beautiful face, capturing everything that she does is always a lot of fun!

oh god, anon, that is my biggest worry. season two was shooting while season one was airing. to me, the biggest problem of season one ( besides episode 10 being an insulting mess ) was una. in disco we saw a competent, mysterious officer with a lot of potential, but she got flattened in snw. rebecca, despite being an excellent actress, also to me didn't feel leading lady material in this show (and she is the leading lady in one of my fav shows!! the librarians!!).

la'an and christine fulfilled that role in more interesting ways, and i hope that in season two we see more of them front and center. also more stories focused on the medbay, so we get christine and m'benga who was also a standout!

BUT OH MY GOD YEAH?? LIKE??? the way i went: chapel?? really?? when she was announced because i thought there wasn't so much they could do with her, but they did such an amazing job developing her there, that when i went back and watched her tos episodes, i could see where they based her personality more clearly and enjoy her episodes more!!

[theatresteph]

Is it healthy? Bellarke vs Clexa, as shown in 3x05 and 3x03

I was texting a friend about The 100 and Bellarke and Clexa, and basically I spiralled and wrote this whole thing by the end, so buckle up if you’re down 😂. And I’m going to make it clear now that, as much as I love discourse from different perspectives, I don’t tolerate rude comments, so be polite if you choose to respond. And it should go without saying that this post is Bellarke-biased, though my points are valid and true to canon.

This is a compare and contrast of two crucial scenes for Clexa and Bellarke, demonstrating how Clarke’s relationship with Bellamy is far more healthy than it ever was with Lexa. Through these essential scenes of character and relationship development, we can see the greatest example of the key difference between the relationships and why one is healthier for Clarke than the other.

(Pardon my essay-style tone here, I’ve been writing academic papers for over a week now and like the pattern)

And in case anyone chooses to bash this without even reading it, I’d like to make it clear that Clexa as a relationship did have it’s good moments and I talk about those as well.

When I compare what makes Bellarke healthy to what I think makes Clexa unhealthy (aside from A LOT of obvious things), I keep remembering 3x05.

Like Clexa in 3x03, they're at odds because of politics and Mt Weather and how this is the first time they've really spoken to each other since it happened. The most important similarity is that, in both conversations, a lot of blame is being placed on Clarke for Mt Weather, even though Lexa knows that it was her choice of accepting the deal that forced Clarke into that position, and Bellamy knows that every awful decision up-to and including pulling the lever (with his help) that he's throwing at her are choices that she didn't make lightly and that she made because she was pushed into the situation when all she wanted was a peaceful solution the entire time.

They both KNOW that she isn't entirely responsible for everything that happened, and they both know that she already blames herself, and adding to her pain by saying this to her isn't what she needs to forgive herself in the long run. But the difference? Lexa says it coldly and with extremely little emotion because, as she says, she needs something from Clarke, and reinforcing her guilt makes her want to continue being distant from her people and only be vulnerable with Lexa. And to be fair, I'm sure that some of this encouragement of her guilt was because she genuinely believed that it was in Clarke's interest to be harder and more Head like her, and it’s Lexa’s nature to be hard and extremely limited in expressing emotion, even to those she trusts, cares for and loves most, but it can't be forgotten that Lexa was actively hoping that Clarke would choose to stay with her in the tower, alone with her and distant from her people, helping in the war against Azgeda as a pawn. A powerful one, but still a minor player to serve Lexa.

But Bellamy... the difference is PROFOUND!

Everything he said to her, we know he didn't mean most of it, didn't want to add to her pain, but it was the explosion of everything he'd felt since they pulled the lever. He never got the chance to be angry with her about TonDC even though we know he understood why she did it, never got to tell her any of his feelings about the trauma of the mountain, and most of all, never got to work through pulling the lever because he couldn't do that without her, couldn't break down over it because he had to stay in Arkadia and take care of their people, like she asked him to, like he knew he had to because that's who he is. He couldn't do any of those things he needed to do desperately because she left him.

I'm positive he even hates himself inside for letting her go, for loving her so much that he, once again, disregarded his own wants and needs so that he could give her what she insisted she needed.

Loving her is why he let her go, why he didn't do everything he could to make her stay, or go with her, and when you add that anger and pain onto LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE, there came an inevitable point where he couldn't keep hiding it from her, and, like Octavia said later in the season, he was hurting and he lashed out, not just when he joined Pike after the Mt Weather bombing, but in this pivotal moment.

Honestly, the only way he held back in this scene was from outright saying "You were my partner, my best friend, the person I needed the most. I loved you, and YOU LEFT ME! I know why you did, and I couldn't bare to deny you what you needed, but what about what I needed, Clarke? I needed you, loved you, and you were gone. And for some fucked up reason, I STILL love you, but you don't get to come to me today and tell me what I need to do, or that YOU need ME, when you left me TWICE".

That’s where the original conversation ends about Bellarke. Using only these 2 scenes as a basis, it’s extremely obvious which relationship is healthier, but I’m not one of those people who watches scenes in isolation, and there are FAR more examples that exemplify why Clarke’s relationship with Bellamy has always been far more balanced than her relationship with Lexa, this is just the most crucial to me.

I can’t say that there is any period of Clexa’s relationship that I found healthy, because either there was a clear imbalance of power (most heavy in season 3 because Clarke is no longer the leader of Skaikru and staying in Polis to continue to run from her guilt and grief) or there’s a sense of manipulation or isolation in their interactions (e.g. TonDC). This is my opinion and I stand by it. 

Every time I’ve rewatched the show in it’s entirety and their scenes in isolation, I can’t help but be bothered by the fact that so much (if not all) of their romantic moments occur when Clarke is feeling alone and distanced from her friends and family. I can’t emphasise enough how unhealthy and detrimental that is for Clarke! Loving someone just because no one else is able or willing to support you or relate to you is not indicative of a strong relationship.

I hated the master-student dynamic where Lexa was imparting her “wisdom” onto Clarke - the “love is weakness” bs being the most prevalent - because it elevates Lexa’s position while devaluing Clarke’s, as if she isn’t the most commanding person in all of Skaikru! This did change in the moment that is, in my opinion, the best of all Clexa scenes; the confrontation scene in 2x14. This is my favourite of their scenes together because it’s about Clarke reasserting herself and defending Octavia, her friend who, even though she just judged her for TonDC, she cares about and won’t let Lexa kill just because she is a risk to Lexa’s reputation. I love this scene because Clarke refuses to let Lexa dominate or coerce her to accept her position and calls her out on her facade of coldness. What makes this scene great is that it’s one of the few moments where I truly feel like Clarke is an equal in their relationship, and the fact that it doesn’t come off that way in most of their moments is telling of how lacking it is in balance.

I also have to point out that, in all of these moments except for when Clarke sends Bellamy into Mt Weather and chooses to stay in Polis (moments that feel more about Bellarke), Bellamy is absent, and not just that he’s not in the room, he’s actually well over a mile away, in a completely different place and position from her. One has to wonder whether this relationship would have been able to develop at all if Bellamy had been around to balance Clarke like he always does. I doubt it. Bellamy is canonically her best friend by the time she and Lexa meet, and yet this relationship happens during the times when he’s absent from her life, both times having pushed him away because either “love is weakness” or because she can’t face him while she’s in pain after Mt Weather. I said it before and I’ll say it again; a relationship that develops when you’re essentially isolated from your friends and family is unlikely to be a lasting one. I feel like I’ve made my point.

Now, I do want to state that the fact that I believe the relationship was mostly unhealthy does not mean that it had no value. On the contrary, it had a lot of value! Clarke learned a lot about herself and the kind of leader she wants to be, and Lexa was able to find love again after trauma convinced her that her feelings were dangerous and limiting. When they said goodbye and had sex in 3x07, they knew they were probably saying goodbye for good, and they accepted it and chose to make the most of it. I do love this moment too because it’s actually very healthy; they know they can’t stay together even though they both want to, and they know it’s because, even if they were living in peace, they would never be able to choose each other over their people as long as they’re leaders. What came after was poorly done, but this moment was touching and should be celebrated. They got to say goodbye, and I hate that Clarke immediately had to lose her and feel that significant trauma, but I’m glad that they also got to say goodbye one final time in the City of Light. This closure is comparatively much better than how her relationship with Finn ended, and I’m glad she got to have that, though I’m looking forward to her finally finding lasting love and happiness, and I do believe she will find that with Bellamy.

On that note, I believe I’m done. I can’t wait for season 7 to air in under a month! Bellarke endgame 2020!!!!

[revisitingstoneybrook]

#8 Boy-Crazy Stacey: Chapter 10

Stacey makes a fool of herself. And she’s still a bitch.

I guess Stacey wrote this notebook entry to Kristy on a mini-postcard, because it's all abbreviated and sounds like she's updating her Twitter: K- Noth. new to rept. Kids fine. B. still afrd. of H2O. -S. You know Kristy is enjoying this, because it sounds all official, like she's getting a daily briefing from her troops.

Or, maybe she's being concise in her BSC update, because her postcard to Claudia has an entirely different tone. Basically, it's her lamenting to Claudia that she's such a jerk and she wouldn't listen to Mary Anne about Scott and she feels like such a jerk and just wouldn't listen to Mary Anne's warnings and did I mention she thinks she's a jerk and she should have paid attention to Mary Anne? Seriously, that's all the postcard is, those things repeated over and over again. She ends by saying she'll explain in the next postcard, then tells us she had to write Claudia three more postcards to tell her the whole story. Holy crap, Stacey, why didn't you just write an actual letter to Claudia and save yourself three stamps? I'm sure you could find a piece of paper and an envelope somewhere. Maybe she was so heartbroken, she couldn't think straight.

Stacey explains that she was having a great time in Sea City. Her hair's now two shades lighter, thanks to the Sun-Lite. So how is she going to explain that to her parents? "It was the sun, honest!" She's got actual tan lines at the edges of her skimpy little bikini that makes her look sooooooo sophisticated. And she bought a new bikini in town. In case you care, it's pink with palm trees and parrots all over it. Which sounds more like something Claudia would wear. But don't worry, Claudia's still kind of sophisticated, so Stacey's sophistication hasn't been affected!

Mary Anne, however, hasn't been faring as well. Her sunburn's gone but she's now dealing with the aftermath of blotchy pink skin. So she isn't in a good mood about that and is still staying under the umbrella as covered up as possible when they go to the beach.

Oh, and Stacey’s diabetes hasn't been an issue and her mom has only called twice! So Stacey is sitting pretty at this point, especially because the best part is she's been spending lots of time with Scott! Saturday, the Pike parents make another run for it so they don't have to spend time with the kids and head to Atlantic City, so Stacey and Mary Anne are in charge. Maybe that’s how the Pikes can afford this huge beach house every year - they’re good at gambling!

Stacey spends the whole day ignoring her responsibilities and parks herself up by the lifeguard stand, leaving Mary Anne alone. By the end of the day, Mary Anne is royally pissed off and accuses Stacey of spending too much time with Scott, while leaving her to do all the work. Stacey, in turn, pulls the "UR JUST JELIS!!!!!!!!" card. Seriously, let me post the next two paragraphs in their entirety so you all can see what a heinous bitch Stacey is. And I usually reserve that term for talking about Dawn or Kristy at their worst, so you know this is bad:

Personally, I think she was jealous. And if I were Mary Anne, I'd have been jealous, too. That nerdy mother's helper had been hanging around her endlessly, and the two of them were always doing stuff with the kids, like building sand castles, or collecting shells to make a moat around the towels and umbrellas. Mary Anne says I'm not spending enough time with the children, but I AM doing something important when I'm on the beach. I post myself by the lifeguard stand and watch the kids when they're in the water - and Adam and Jordan are in the water nonstop. I can't help it if Scott talks to me every now and then, or asks for a soda or something.

Oh my, where do I start. First off, she honestly thinks Mary Anne's jealous that she’s off flirting with an 18-year-old lifeguard? And she hasn’t even met the mother's helper guy and she's calling him a nerd and assumes he's bothering Mary Anne. The Pikes should be paying HIM because he's doing the job Stacey’s getting paid for! Of course they're playing with the kids; they're babysitters, it's their responsibility to watch over the kids, something Stacey isn’t doing! I still can't get over her accusing Mary Anne of being jealous. I guess everyone can't be a sophisticated New Yorker, with barely-there bikinis and heavenly boobs that fill out said bikinis. Part of me kind of wishes that Mary Anne tattled on Stacey, just to see how the Pikes would react. But since they're such free-spirits, with almost no rules, they probably wouldn't care. And Mary Anne's such a doormat, she'd never speak up, so there goes that fantasy. 

And way to pretend you're doing your job, Stacey. Someone's in denial! Adam could get pulled away by a riptide and Stacey would be too occupied with fetching Scott a can of soda to notice.

So while Mary Anne's watching the Pike Army with the help of the boy mother's helper (who deserves a medal for going out of his way to keep helping Mary Anne), Scott inflates Stacey ego some more by telling her she's beautiful. And she swoons because the only other people who call her beautiful are her parents. Well, and herself, but I don't think that counts. He gets cut off from telling her something else so he can blow one of his many whistles to alert some kids they're out too far in the ocean. See, Stacey? He isn't neglecting his job! And you know the kids he's warning are Adam and Jordan, who Stacey claimed she was watching.

Stacey asks him what he meant to say before he was rudely interrupted by those damn kids who were too far out in the water and Scott quickly says she's the greatest. Stacey giggles to herself that he's just too shy to tell her up front that he LUVS her too. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, honey.

Later that afternoon, Stacey tries talking with Mary Anne, who isn't saying much and obviously wants nothing to do with her. Stacey tries making conversation and offers to get her a soda but it's no use. That's pretty much the only interaction they have the rest of the day until they leave the beach.

Stacey says Mr. and Mrs. Pike returned from Atlantic City in a “great mood,” so I think we can all conclude what they did there in between winning enough money to pay for next year's trip to Sea City. They're in such a good mood, they decide to be nice and spend the evening with their kids, giving Stacey and Mary Anne the night off. Mrs. Pike invites them to come with the family to Gurber Garden, so they can use Nicky's coupon for four free dinners, but says they can go off on their own too. Stacey's excited and begs Mary Anne to not be mad at her, so they can have fun for the next five hours. Mary Anne began to look a teeny bit interested. And by the time our bikinis were off, we had showered, and our boardwalk clothes were on, she was actually speaking to me. That makes it sound like they showered together! I guess Stacey decided to use her powers of persuasion.

They select their boardwalk outfits carefully, Stacey hoping they run into Scott. Oh, you will...it just won't be as you imagined it.

Their boardwalk outfits are actually pretty decent. Stacey's wearing a white cotton vest over a pink cotton dress, and has a big white bow in her hair that's flopping over the side of her head. Ok, it was good up until the bow. Mary Anne has nothing she feels like wearing so Stacey loans her some of her stuff. Mary Anne ends up wearing yellow pedal pushers, a white and yellow striped tank top and an oversized white jacket. Ok, her's was good up until the white jacket. It makes it sound like she's wearing a lab coat over her outfit. And if Stacey's got magical boobs of wonder and Mary Anne doesn't, that tank top must be baggy on her.

They have dinner at a burger place, and Mary Anne has fudge for dessert. Stacey obviously can't. Then they go and buy souvenirs. Mary Anne gets visors for Dawn and Kristy, and Stacey gets Claudia a bright yellow t-shirt with a surfer on it because she thinks the surfer looks like Scott. Oh, that'll be fun explaining that gift. "Oh this shirt I'm wearing with my purple plaid capri pants and matching high-tops? My best friend bought it in Sea City. She said the surfer looks like this guy she had a crush on who then broke her heart. Dibble, right?"

After they play some arcade games, Mary Anne suggests they go for a ferris wheel ride. On the way there, I'm sure Stacey is puzzled at all the teenage/college-aged girls wearing whistles around their necks. They buy their tickets and the guy in the booth calls Stacey “cutie.” Mary Anne is getting denied here! While they're on the ferris wheel, Stacey decides out of the blue that she should buy Scott a present. "Hmph" is the only response she gets from Mary Anne. I guess she takes that as a yes because once they get off the ferris wheel, she drags Mary Anne to practically every gift shop on the boardwalk.

While Stacey ponders what to get him, she says Mary Anne waits in each shop patiently. Though knowing Mary Anne, she's suppressing the rage and saving it up, making herself a ticking time bomb that explodes when she lets all that pent-up anger loose at a later time. Among the gifts Stacey chooses, then unchooses, are a book about shells (what), a blue hat, and a custom-made t-shirt that says "STACEY + SCOTT = LUV." Yikes. More like if she gave that shirt to Scott, it would be "STACEY + SCOTT = CREEPY" or "STACEY + SCOTT = RESTRAINING ORDER."

They come to a candy shop and Stacey, ignoring the fact that just being around chocolate will make her go into diabetic shock, runs in and drops 10 bucks on a giant, red satin, heart-shaped box of chocolates. She triumphantly shows her gift to Mary Anne, who's looking at something else. She tries to stop Stacey from looking but it's too late. Stacey turns around to find Scott behind her, curled up on a bench and sucking face with an OLDER GIRL. Well, older for Stacey, because the girl was at least 18. And, to make matters worse, she's curvy and gorgeous!

Ok, does anyone have an inkling that Mary Anne purposely made herself look distracted so Stacey would look and see Scott "cheating" on her, just so she would stop lusting after him and go back to doing her job? Or is her evil side not big enough to pull that off?

Stacey thrusts the box of chocolates at Mary Anne and says, "Guess I won't be needing this. You take it. You deserve it. You were right all along. Enjoy your prize." Then she breaks down sobbing. Surprisingly, Mary Anne doesn't join her in crying and instead puts her arm around Stacey walks her back to the house. LEAVING THE BIG EXPENSIVE BOX OF CHOCOLATES ON THE BENCH!!!!! This annoyed from the first time I read this book years ago and it still annoys me. Stacey spent 10 freakin dollars on that, bring it back home with you!

[ayearofpike]

Witch World/Red Queen

Witch World

Simon Pulse, 2012 521 pages, 24 chapters + epilogue ISBN 978-1-4424-3028-0 LOC: PZ7.P626 Wi 2012 OCLC: 924501501 Released November 13, 2012 (per B&N)

(HELL YES I DID take this picture in Vegas. Way back in November, underscoring just how behind this entry is.)

Red Queen

Simon Pulse, 2014 ISBN 978-1-4424-3029-7 LOC: PZ7.P626 Rd 2014 OCLC: 1030042441 Released August 19, 2014 (per B&N)

First I have to address the immediate question: It’s the exact same book. Like, down to pagination. (Yes, I read them both. We’ve already established I’m kind of a freak.) I don’t know why it has two different sets of catalog information. I don’t know why they changed the title, but I will hazard a guess that Witch World is a shitty title and it took slow or lacking sales for S&S to convince Pike/Pike to convince S&S to change it. I don’t know why they then picked a title that would be coming out shortly from another publisher, one that would go on to create a much more robust universe and move enough units to muddy any kind of search query. I don’t even really know why I bought them both. I don’t know a lot of things, and I’m not quite masochist enough to find out.

What I do know? This book is more of the same old shit. Like, OK, most people aren’t going to read all 95 of Christopher Pike’s books right on top of each other, so the connections and relationships might slide. But if you do, you start to see that this dude actually has no new or original ideas after ... let’s generously call it 1996. The beautiful girl in the California town in the middle of nowhere who goes on a weekend party outing with her friends, but then meets a dude with mysterious powers and ends up in a fatal situation, only to realize that she’s survived death and now has strength and vision beyond her prior ability or even imagination? A vision that taps her into an alternate parallel universe, where she’s had a child who has the potential to be the most powerful human ever, only evil forces know about this child’s genetics and want to use her for their own selfish and horrific ends? This is The Grave, gang. Well, mostly The Grave, with some Sita and Alosha and, yes, even Spooksville sprinkled in for flavor. But the point is, we’ve seen all of it already.

Pike has previously said that he felt rushed toward the end of his previous S&S days, and that he didn’t put everything he had into the stories he wrote because of being pulled in multiple directions. That’s fair, and it makes sense that he’d want to come back to something he felt wasn’t as good as it could be, something that didn’t get enough care and attention, and make it better. So it’s a little frustrating that this is what we get. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got a lot of potential, but then again, so did The Grave. I can’t help but feel like Pike is still just trying to figure out what has sold, what has been attractive to people who read his books and others like them, and is retreading so much old ground that it’s starting to become flat and uninteresting. (Which might be part of my reticence to finish this project.)

One thing that’s new and notable about WW/RQ: it marks the placement of Pike’s first YA F-bomb. He’s been using “damn,” “hell,” and “bitch” since the beginning, and starting with EoI (eliding maybe one or two in Whisper of Death) he began liberally (not literally, mind) dropping “shit.” But “fuck” has been sacred, hallowed ground, off limits in any but his adult novels, never mind that this is pretty much what all of his characters want to do all the time. So imagine my profound shock when I picked this book up right around its release date* and encountered the word “unfuckable” on page 18. A sign of the times, yes, and of what was becoming permissible in YA, but to someone who had grown up with Pike and expected a certain voice and stance, this felt kind of wrong and out of place. Much like my opinion of Pike in the 21st century in general.

*This was another random club store find in a rural town in southern New Mexico. I don’t know why the store where I mostly bought diapers was getting Pike in hardback on or near release when nobody else even knew these books were available, and can’t imagine I’ll ever find out.

OK, summary time. Jessie Ralle has just graduated from high school and her entire senior class is going to Las Vegas to celebrate. Said entire class is like 200 people — so not only does Pike still not get what a small town is, but he demonstrates increasing disconnect from how young people actually act. Vegas is a two-hour drive from Apple Valley, California (where Jessie’s mom relocated them after her Hollywood doctor dad bailed on them for a hot young nurse, and also where none of this takes place). I barely even wanted to drive across town to my senior party, to say nothing of paying for a hotel and a fancy dinner with a massive group that I barely know. And that was before the Internet and streaming media allowed us to prune and curate what (and who) we interact with so ruthlessly. Like, if this was a class of 40, I’d be on board, but 200?

But apparently it’s a close-knit 200 people, even though we only ever meet like six of ‘em. Jessie’s riding in a car with four others: her best friend since childhood, the uptight salutatorian, the class nerd who of course has always had a crush on Jessie, and Jimmy. Jessie has loved Jimmy from afar since the beginning of high school, and from up  close for a couple of months this past winter, but he dumped her to go back to his previous girlfriend, who graduated early and hasn’t been seen around town since. That doesn’t mean Jessie is over him — far from it, actually — so this car ride is either going to work out in her favor or be super awkward and uncomfortable.

They get a three-bedroom suite at the MGM Grand for $150 over a weekend somehow. It is all I can do to suspend my disbelief. Like, I’ve been to Vegas (obviously; see top image). Pike obviously has too; his description of spatial mechanics is (mostly) on point, which is what makes this price thing so jarring. I’ve been responsible for booking hotel rooms there off and on for the last 20 years. And the one time we ever got a suite, it was almost twice that PER NIGHT and still only had one bedroom. (We split it six ways, and we all HAD jobs.) And this was in the beat-ass old Luxor in September 2006. Ain’t no way these fucking CHILDREN managed a SUITE in a PREMIER CENTER STRIP HOTEL SIX YEARS LATER FOR LESS. And Jessie has the gall to fucking COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COST.

I MUST STOP YELLING. I am so a dad, right?

But anyway, Jimmy doesn’t have a room — he wasn’t even sure he was coming on this trip. Jessie’s best friend offers for him to stay with them, which Uptight Salutatorian bitches about, but like, chill the fuck out, there’s a couch, right? He and Jessie have to talk about whether this is OK, and it turns out he left her because his ex was pregnant, but the baby died just after he was born. And Jessie isn’t OK. They’d been together long enough that this smacks of either an excuse or a manipulation, and she doesn’t like either option. She kicks him out and cries a lot, and then the gang all goes to dinner at the Bellagio, which is where this starts to get financially realistic when half the class balks at the cost of the meal and fucking bails. Yet the restaurant serves the rest, even giving these (again) CHILDREN bottles of wine, which messes Jessie up enough to kiss Nerd Crush. In front of Uptight Salutatorian, who (it turns out) likes HIM. So everyone gets pissed off at each other and takes off, and then Jessie and Best Friend go see O (the Cirque show inside the Bellagio). 

It’s page 35, by the way. Almost 500 to go yet. At least from here the story gets more focused and straightforward.

After the show, they want to gamble. CHILDREN. But they have fake IDs, so they head down to the Tropicana, an older hotel with lower minimums on blackjack, where they bump into a dude who seems strangely familiar to Jessie, even though she’s sure she never met him before. This dude is in town for a medical conference ... Jessie will later learn about his genome-scanning technology and what it implies for people like her, but she’s gonna have to figure it out first. He has an uncanny ability to win, and people start asking him for advice, but he denies them all. Except Jessie. They quickly pile up hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is where she’s hosed because they’ll never let her cash out that much with a fake ID. So the dude gives her his room key (not at this old-ass dirtball hotel, at the Mandalay Bay across the street) and says he’ll get her money and bring it up in a minute, and she should order some dessert from room service while she’s waiting.

No, they don’t fuck. They almost do, but then Jessie remembers Jimmy and realizes she’s still hung up on him, even though he wronged her and left her hanging. But she learns that the dude will cop to some unnatural method of knowing what’s coming next in the deck, which is why he managed to bet properly at the right times. He doesn’t show her, but he does teach her how to play twenty-two. Not twenty-one, which is blackjack: in twenty-two, aces are only worth one, but red queens are eleven. And if you get a natural twenty-two (queen of hearts and queen of diamonds), you win instantly, PLUS your opponent HAS to try to win their bet back in full on the next hand. The dude doesn’t state why these are the strict rules, but he does imply that a portion of the winnings goes to some mysterious party that doesn’t come clear yet.

So Jessie goes back to the hotel, where Jimmy is sitting on the floor outside. He’s been sexiled from the nerd’s room, because it turns out he was OK going after Uptight Salutatorian (who I guess isn’t so uptight after all). And he’s crying and he’s apologetic, and this coupled with Jessie’s realization in Mystery Gambler’s room is all it takes for her to accept him back. They have breakfast with everyone the next day (room service, more invisible money spent) and then Jessie and Jimmy drive out to Lake Mead to splash and swim and sex. But what’s weird is that it reminds them both of the first time ... which neither of them remembers the same way. Even more awkward is the ex showing up with a warning: “They never take just one, Jessie. They always take both.” (102)

This doesn’t make any sense, right? Well, Mystery Gambler has planted a seed that things might get confusing pretty quick, and invited Jessie to talk to him about it. So she hops in a cab back to his hotel, except the cab takes her out to a creepy industrial area instead. When it finally stops at a stop sign, she bolts, only she doesn’t know where she is now. Luckily, a beautiful woman in a red Porsche pulls up at that exact moment and offers to give her a ride. Which ... aren’t you even the slightest bit concerned that a strange car brought you out here and now another strange car has just pulled up right when you needed it? Obviously not, which is what leads to her getting tased and waking up in a meat freezer, where the safety ax is of course missing. She wrestles with the door and some meat-hanging apparatus for a while, but can’t get it open and ends up spraining her ankle in the process. And even though it’s dangerous to sit, to slow down, to stop moving in this freezer, Jessie can’t help herself.

She wakes up in a hospital. Only this room doesn’t look or feel like a typical hospital room. Plus, she can’t move. She can’t even blink. She’s briefly relieved when two doctors come in, but that goes away when she realizes they’re here to perform the autopsy. The senior doctor gets called out, which is all the other guy needs to start satiating his necrophilia all over Jessie’s corpse. He’s pretty shocked when Jessie suddenly sits bolt upright and curses him out — enough that he has himself a nice little heart attack right there in the morgue. The other doctor comes back, and she seems to know what happened, and is also weirdly thrilled by the guy’s obvious pain? But she leaves without taking any action, and Jessie sees this as her chance to get out of Dodge.

The hospital is downtown, which is a long way from the MGM Grand but at least it’s an obvious straight shot on Las Vegas Boulevard. Only Jessie doesn’t recognize some of these north-end casinos. She goes inside one to get her bearings and is quickly accosted by three punks, who she casually injures like it’s no thing. What’s even stranger is how quickly they back off and the degree of respect they suddenly accord her. And even stranger than that is that the blackjack tables don’t say “blackjack.”

You guessed it. People in Las Vegas are playing red queen.

So now she has to talk to Mystery Gambler more than ever. She walks all the way to the Mandalay Bay, because fuck a taxi anymore, right? Only it’s called the Mandy, and his room on the top floor is now one floor lower than it used to be. But as it turns out, he does have some answers. He first tells Jessie the truth of why he's in Vegas: his whole medical conference story is just a front. There is some basis in reality, in that his group has identified certain genes that, when awakened, enable essentially superpowers. His genetic sensor identified that Jessie has seven of these genes — but he already knew that. He seems to know a creepy amount for some rando she just met. And also, he keeps calling her Jessica, and she realizes she's using a longer version of his name too, reflexively, even though he never called himself that in their interactions.

This, plus the hotels and the casino game and the fact that, y'know, she woke up on a fucking MORGUE TABLE a few hours ago help Jessie to realize the truth of her situation. With a little guided meditation, which helps her to remember things that never actually happened to her, she learns that there are two simultaneous dimensions happening on Earth, we live two lives in parallel, and the extra genes (when activated) allow people to experience both. These people, historically, are who we think of as witches, so for lack of a better term this second dimension is colloquially called witch world. Like, super lazy writing, right? I guess Pike blew his load inventing names for shit in Alosha and couldn't be arsed to consider that maybe twelve thousand years of connected humans might have named something themselves. (Yeah, I said twelve thousand years. Back at it again with the same timeline.)

But one of those things Jessie remembered is having a baby. This is where her father (remember, the dude who bailed on Jessie and her mom) suddenly shows up. We learn that he left (in the “real” world, not in witch world where he’s still present in her life) because he realized the importance of Jessie and her fate, and hoped that his absence would protect both her and the baby to come. (He has the "seeing-the-future" gene, I guess?) According to Dad, this baby is potentially the most important person in the history of both worlds, because she's the only one to have ever been born with all ten extra genes. It's also a weird connection, because this is the only occasion that anybody knows of where a child has been born to different parents in the two worlds. (The kid is an entirely different person because of that, so that's weird too.) But, just like the boyfriend's ex-girlfriend warned, "they" have taken both. 

"They" turn out to be a cadre of witches who want to use their powers to elevate themselves rather than ... well, it's never really made super clear what the "good" witches do. Like ... hang out and be immortal? Oh yeah, I didn't mention that once you're awakened you can't die of natural causes. I guess the dad says that sometimes they'll interfere when shit is really going sideways, but for the most part they want regular humans to regulate their own affairs. It's the Telar again! Only, no, wait, they call themselves the "Tar" in this book so it's obviously totally different. And yeah, both babies have been taken; they let the boyfriend think his son died in infancy so that he'd eventually be a lever to manipulate Jessie when he realized he had two living children. But it sounds like the daughter is already causing trouble for her kidnappers, without even being aware of her ten genes, which ... 

I don't know, it doesn't make any sense now that I'm writing about it. Like, I'm cool with the parallel dimensions, I'm on board with dying to become awakened, I'm down with extra powers and whatever. I'm even mostly OK with this story reusing so many assets from all these past books. But like ... how does the baby have some (even unconscious) control of her locked genetic powers when her counterpart in the real world is not only still alive, but had a different MOTHER and is therefore a totally different PERSON? The first chapter of the sequel (all I’ve read of it so far) doesn’t make it look promising that we’re ever gonna find out, so just keep suspending the shit out of that disbelief, I guess.

But anyway, now that Jessie’s connected, she’s hell-bent on rescuing her baby. Which I think she would have done even if she were still separated, but whatever. And I know, easy to think that not actually having a memory of the baby might make it difficult, but these memories are slowly bubbling up and emerging, especially strong ones like parenthood and family. She’s been warned against contacting Jimmy (or “James,” I guess) in witch world, but she doesn’t hesitate to tell him all the crazy shit that’s happened to her in the real world.

(This is another reason I have a problem with the lazy naming conventions on display. To witches, “witch world” is the most real. Each day takes place first there in their perceptions, followed by the same day in the “real world.” We’ll also see how events in witch world have a stronger effect on events in the real world; namely, if you die in witch world you pretty much always die in the real but the inverse is not true. So, once again, why wouldn’t witches have come up with some more appropriate naming patterns at least, given how old the oldest is? Just more lazy crap we gotta swallow.)

So anyway, Jimmy doesn’t believe her; he thinks someone drugged Jessie with a hallucinogenic and now she’s having altered state memories. So she gets out of the car they’re driving to the desert and picks it up to prove her new strength. Why are they driving in the desert? For some reason, Jessie is drawn to the power associated with the nuclear tests that the government ran in the barren nowhere that is most of Nevada. There’s gotta be a reason, after all, that the centers of witch power are here. So they bust into the deserted testing ground, only to discover it’s not that deserted — there’s a kid out there apparently living by himself. He takes to Jimmy immediately and agrees to come back to the city with them, where they’re going to talk more to Jessie’s dad.

The kid can’t speak, but he can write — with a prehensile tail that he has heretofore hidden by wrapping it around his waist. He tells them about the other freaks that live out in the nuked test cities, as well as the mean man who brings him food. The rationale isn’t clear, and the kid isn’t talking ... well ... you know what I mean. But this is where Jimmy finds out his son is still alive and being used as bait. And dude fucking TAKES it: as soon as his ex calls and wants to discuss what she might know about the children, not only does he refuse to step back and let the powerful people handle the rescue, but he actually wants to go through the death process in order to awaken his awareness of both sides.. They don’t let him do that, because apparently our good guys are not allowed to actively connect more witches, except when they are. So all they can do is talk to the ex and learn that she doesn’t care who she sells out to as long as it saves her son, which ... fair. But Jimmy isn’t willing to go that far, and they head back to her dad’s house to regroup, where they realize they’re being watched.

Or they were, I guess. There’s a car with two obvious spies in it, but they’re dead, and the killer is hanging out nearby. This dude is, we learn, second-in-command of the Tar leadership, a five-thousand-year-old Celt who wants to take a more proactive approach in encouraging good and deterring evil in both humans and witches, mostly with his sword. He’s a Highlander, is what I’m trying to say. He takes Jessie out to a sacred spring in the mountains, where they swim naked together, as you do when you first meet an ancient Celtic swordsman, right? But there’s some cliff writing out here, written by the ancient people in a script the Highlander knows, having been taught it by the man who turned him so many years ago. It describes a woman who will have such power that she controls the destiny of the world, and it’s essentially Jessie’s daughter. So like ... tell me something I don’t know, right? What’s more new and unusual is the Highlander’s description of red queen, how it was taught to him and spread throughout ancient Rome, and how a certain percentage of all winnings, no matter who takes it, has to ultimately return to his benefactor, who we’ll call the Alchemist because that’s what Pike calls him.

We’re going to have to wait on more description, because the Highlander takes Jessie home and we skip-cut forward to the next night in witch world, where she’s meeting the leadership council and discussing their intents to rescue the baby. Mystery Gambler is there too; he's going to act as Jessie's liaison to the bad guys, having served as a double agent since the Civil War. This scene seems like it might be superfluous, except that you mostly only retain the memories from the dimension in which you die, and so the council knows that Jessie needs some backstory.  (Don't we all.) The main thing we get out of this is that they've kind of figured out that WANTING to activate their witch genes has a high correlation with witches going bad at all, especially when they try to engineer the birth of high-number witches. So Jessie's contact with Jimmy was carefully arranged so as to appear NOT engineered, because even though the future sight told them that these two were compatible and would fall in love and make a power baby, any appearance of forcing it could make things all fucked up.

So Jessie's entire life is a sham, manipulated by sources of power she was never supposed to see, one of those being her own goddamn father.

What next? Well, on to the other purpose of this meeting: prep for said meeting with the bad guys. The council expects that they're going to offer Jessie her baby back, as long as both of them live under bad-guy control, and they want her to string them along while they figure out what to do. Great fuckin' plan, guys. You've been trying to make a power baby for how many thousand years, and you didn't have a contingency plan if it got kidnapped?

But so Jessie and Mystery Gambler go to the next meeting, and this is starting to sound like work. As it turns out, the leader of the bad guys is (plot twist that surprises nobody!) the coroner who was unfazed when Jessie sat up in the morgue. She's making this deal because the baby is difficult, and they think that if she has her mother that they'll be able to control her and her powers. They let Jessie hold her, which activates even more of those mom connections, but when they go to take her away the baby cries and creates almost a physical wall, which the big strong guard man has to fight with all his might to overcome. President Coroner has no qualms with the possibility that she might have to kill both baby and mom if they don't cooperate. In fact, she invites Jessie to die right here and now, by forcing her to fight for her life against Mystery Gambler. For Jessie, this is proving her worth and her importance in being allowed into the bad-guy circle. For Mystery Gambler, it's a step up to a higher ranking of leadership. For President Coroner, it's TV. So they have a monster sword fight ... well, Mystery Gambler has a sword; Jessie has a bamboo stick that proves its power when she somehow shoots fire out the end and totally incinerates the dude. Which is cool by the bad guys, because they already knew MG was a double agent and wanted him dead anyway. And then there's another kid ... this one with a tail ... only instead of a blunt prehensile end, this one has a stinger like a scorpion's. Guess whose kid THIS is.

Back in the real world, Jessie and Jimmy go see her dad, who confirms that there was a mysterious fire on the top floor of the Mandalay Bay the night before, with one fatality. Which ... does this even come close to matching the timeline? How could it have already happened if the day hasn't happened yet? But whatever — the important thing is that the council wants Jessie to accept the bad guys' offer and go live with the baby. The tail-boy is still here, though Jessie's dad says he's riddled with malignant tumors and can't possibly live too much longer. But they realize that if he can tap into those cross-dimensional memories, the way Jessie and Jimmy were doing when they argued about fucking all the way back ... two days ago, then maybe they can use him to triangulate the area where witch-tail-boy lives, presumably with President Coroner. He leads them to a gated community at the base of a mountain, which they figure is good intel to take back to the council even if they're not ready to investigate yet.

Jessie does want to try to find the area where she got dumped and zapped the day she was killed, for ... you know, reasons. She hears cries of pain coming out of the sewer in the general area she thinks it was, and in investigating she runs into the big mean guard from the bad guy meeting. He thinks it's been a waste of time trying to get her on their side and is just about to kill her when the Highlander shows up and unceremoniously lops off his head. He has some more info about what might be going on down here, and it has to do with his dearest and oldest love: that’s right, President Coroner. 

They met in ancient Rome, around the turn of the calendar, but every effort they made to procreate ended in tragedy. One son was killed in battle fighting the Huns, one daughter (and her children) died of the plague, and a final son (who, let it be known, they named HERME) disappeared during the US Revolutionary War. All this loss made the poor woman so bitter and angry that she naturally began striving for control, including supporting Hitler (like, literally helping him) during WWII. The Highlander thinks there's another dimension to her having gone there, though: somehow she can feed off the pain of misery and death, and is addicted to it. Also, it gives her another power of being able to confound people, which the Highlander experienced when trying to reason with her around the time of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion and again when the power baby was kidnapped. Is it helping anybody that he's holding out on the council with this info? 

So he takes Jessie back to the hotel, where she owes her best friend an explanation — only she already knows. Turns out that this dude she's been hooking up with in Vegas is a witch too, and has explained to her the ins and outs and difficulties of what's going on with Jessie, up to a point. Turns out this dude is ALSO a double agent, here supposedly on assignment from the bad guys but just about ready to turn face, at least partly because he's found himself in love with the friend. After two days. His primary power is the ability to change his appearance at will, which Jessie learns in a jarring fashion upon waking up in witch world and finding a tall hunky dude in her suite in place of this pudgy nerd. She has that gene too, he says, and helps her start down the path of disguising herself. She quickly gets good at it and then realizes: couldn't I use this power to sneak into that gated community and steal back my baby?

Obviously it's not going to be so easy as walking into the joint and walking back out with The Special, even disguised as President Coroner as she is. First of all, she doesn't even know for sure that the baby is here now, and she does know that the actual boss is in town, not here. (Lucky thing, right, when she goes through the guard shack in full makeup.) So instead she goes to Jimmy's ex-girlfriend's place. Don't ask me how she knows that THIS is an option, or that the girl is indeed even home, or that she is living there at all. There's not even really a reason to believe that she can help, or that she even KNOWS anything about the baby. But Jessie's concerned about the competition, and fairly confident that her target doesn't have the strength gene and will therefore be easy enough to overpower. It proves true in terms of tying the girl up and throwing her in the trunk of her car, but Jessie isn't counting on being lied to. The ex kicks through the backseat and forces Jessie off the road, where they have an epic Matrix battle that culminates in Jessie punching a hole in the gas tank and exploding the thing with an emergency flare. She feels a surge of pleasure while the ex-girlfriend dies, which is ... creepy? Shows some link to President Coroner? What else does it mean?

It at least means that Jessie should be prepared when she goes to talk to President Coroner tonight. She buys a handgun at a pawn shop, then meets Jimmy James in front of the Tropicana, where the big ugly bodyguard picks them up in a limo. James takes a little while to get in the car, and he doesn't sit right next to Jessie for some reason. The car takes them back to the gated community, to the biggest house, where President Coroner is waiting. Negotiations don't really go as well as could be hoped, since the boss already knows that she's not the one who kidnapped the ex in the trunk of a car. But while they're working out their threats and measuring their dicks, who should walk in but the Highlander. He's finally talked the Tar council into using brain powers to murder his dearest love, and as one person has to be present to make it work, guess who volunteered. Only the big mean bodyguard is holding the baby, and he'll rip her in half if they make a move against his boss. This is a good time for the best friend's boyfriend, the shapeshifting teacher, to appear out of thin air, grab the gun out of Jessie's waistband, and cap the bodyguard in the head. Yeah, he was sitting between them for the whole car ride, like there's not enough seats in a limo for him to stretch out somewhere else. Cockblocker.

But here's the weirdest part: President Coroner recognizes him. That's right, bitches — Herme lives! He has seen the evil his mother is doing and has finally come out of hiding to try to help put a stop to it. And James helped him because he knows what's going on in both worlds. He's experienced it, actually: after Jessie fell asleep, he killed himself (with Herme's help) so he could be fully present and help in witch world. I have more timeline problems and concerns, obviously, starting with the question of how Jimmy could possibly be here today if he hasn't yet killed himself, but that's not where the characters are right now. Right now they're concerned with stopping this ultimate evil who doesn't seem to care about murder. So Herme and his Highlander dad point blue brain lasers at President Coroner, who generates a red bubble to stop them, because everything we have to know about good and evil energy colors we learned from Star Wars.

And now Jessie finds herself inside the red bubble. She's been the most susceptible of those exposed to PC, after all, and so she might be convertible to the pain-suckers. She relives all of the memories that our dear villain has of her children dying and of how the pain could be turned into a pleasurable sensation, and it's just hypnotic enough and convincing enough that, as Jessie finds herself back in her own body, she can be persuaded to take her gun back from Herme and shoot the Highlander. He doesn't die, but he's weakened enough that President Coroner can steal his sword and stab him in the heart.

So now what? Well, it's a good thing Jimmy's here to save everybody! What would we do without a white dude who's barely aware of his powers? But he knows that together, with Jessie and the baby, they have a strength that is impossible to overcome. So they manage to paralyze our villain, but now her scorpion son shows up and wants to murder too. Only — plot twist! — he murders his mom! Turns out that when Jimmy killed himself, he also killed tail-boy in the real world, and now HE'S got good-guy memories. This is really telling about President Coroner's parenting skills that all of her living children not only think that she has to die, but show up to help DO IT.

But now all is good and we can move forward as a family, right? Totally! At least until Jessie wakes up in the real world and finds Jimmy lying beside her, still and cold and dead.

This would have been a good place to stop, right? Of course he doesn't. Two days later, Jessie and her best friend are home from Jimmy's funeral, talking about what's going on and all the implications, when suddenly there's a sound at the door — the mail box. (Does anybody still have one of these shits in 2012? Most rural neighborhoods are going to the community box.) Jessie collects the mail, among which is a red envelope containing a letter from the Alchemist (remember that dude) anticipating a future meeting and sending best wishes from ... President Coroner.

And that is the end of Witch World! Or Red Queen, whichever one you picked up. Like, are we starting to understand how Pike has so little grasp of world-building that he has ALREADY killed his main antagonist AND the potential monkey wrench in Jessie's future relationships? Doesn't he realize none of us are going to get invested in a world where you don't stay dead after you die? I mean, except zombies. But since that's not what we're talking about, I can't possibly imagine where Black Knight is going to take us. I mean, I can, because I've read the back copy, and it doesn't look remotely related. Maybe that's one more reason I've been stalling on this entry: to keep me away from the annoying-looking next one.

[dancer4813]

Under the Mistletoe

Took some time today to edit/revise this fic I originally wrote for @teammompike​ a year ago, based on this post. It was a pleasure to revisit, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Summary:  Keyleth gets in the spirit of Winter's Crest and takes full advantage of the opportunity. Words: 2.1k [AO3]

Pike was the first to notice the berries, when they were wandering through the streets of Whitestone examining some of the local merchants’ wares.

“Keyleth, is that mistletoe?”

Keyleth turned her head to smile down at Pike. “I’m so glad you noticed! I found some on a tree when I went out to the forest earlier, and thought it was perfect for Winter’s Crest!“

The gnome tiled her head to one side. “You know what mistletoe means, right?”

“Of course,” Keyleth said, grinning. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“I suppose…”

“Pike! Did you still wanna do the arm-wrestling contest?” Grog asked, coming over to them. “It’s startin’ soon!”

“Yes, but give me a moment!” she said, opening her mouth to say something to Keyleth before apparently changing her mind and turning back to Grog.

“Grog, do you know what mistletoe means?”

“Missle-what?”

“Mistletoe,” Pike repeated, gesturing up to Keyleth’s antlers.

“I mean, looks like berries to me,” Grog said with a shrug. “And I’ve never really liked green things, like the leaves on them. They never taste good.”

“Come here.” Pike gestured for Grog to crouch down and Keyleth went back to looking at the various jewelry on display, hiding a chuckle.

“Wait, really?” Grog exclaimed from behind her, and Keyleth turned to see Pike shushing him but nodding, grinning.

“Does that mean…”

“Only if you want to,” Pike said with a shrug. “But it’s tradition, so…”

She gave him a knowing look, and he stared at her for a moment before turning back to Keyleth.

“Do you know what mistletoe is?” he asked her. Keyleth laughed, unable to hide it, and nodded.

“I think so,” she said, and Grog considered her for a moment before stepping forward and placing a hesitant but firm kiss on top of her head, barely needing to stoop because of her height.

“Any more participants for the arm-wrestling competition?” came a general call from behind them, and Grog straightened up.

“Happy Winter’s Crest, Keyleth!” he said quickly, already backing away to get to the tables. “Pike can explain the mizzle-toes if you ask!”

“Thank you, Grog! Happy Winter’s Crest!” Keyleth shouted back with a laugh. She looked back to Pike, who was smirking.

“You don’t need mistletoe explained, do you, Keyleth?” she asked, and Keyleth shook her head.

“I think I’ve got it pretty well sorted, but thank you, Pike.”

“Well, I might as well get in the spirit of the season,” Pike said. “Right?”

“Of course! I mean-”

“Pike! Are you joining the arm-wrestling competition?” Grog bellowed from behind them.

“Yes! Give me a moment!” Pike yelled back, leaning to the side. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smile, and beckoned Keyleth down to her level.

“Sorry I couldn’t stay a bit longer,” Pike said, but Keyleth only shrugged.

“Go kick their butts.”

“Anything for my favorite druid,” Pike murmured, standing on her tiptoes to kiss Keyleth on the cheek. “Happy Winter’s Crest, Keyleth.”

Keyleth returned the kiss and pulled Pike into a quick hug. “And the same to you, Pike.”

“Pike! They’re startin’!”

“Oh- gotta run!” Pike exclaimed, peeking around Keyleth’s shoulder. “See you later!”

And she ran off to join the other contestants at the array of tables in the square.

Keyleth, chuckling behind her fingers, made her way over to Scanlan, who was absentmindedly humming and tapping his foot along to a tune played by a lively string quartet. She lowered herself onto the bench at the table next to the bard, watching the musicians as he hummed.

“What’s the name of this song?” she asked, trying to sort out the rhythms and figure out if she’d heard them before. She didn’t think she had, but Scanlan seemed familiar with it.

“An old folk song,” he said, stretching and glancing toward her. “But the lyrics were…”

He trailed off, blinking twice at the white berries tied securely onto either side of Keyleth’s antlered headdress.

“What about the lyrics?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“The lyrics?”

“The lyrics to the song,” she said, gesturing to the quartet. “You said that the lyrics were…”

“Ah, yes,” Scanlan said with a short sigh. “The lyrics were lost to time, I suppose they’d say. I once met an older bard who knew them, but I was with Dr. Dranzel at the time and we were simply passing through, so I never learned them myself.”

“That’s too bad…” Keyleth said, trailing off as the song finished.

“You know, mistletoe has a particular meaning around this time of the year,” Scanlan said, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. “A very particular meaning, if you get my drift.”

“Of course it’s got an important meaning,” Keyleth said, reaching up to adjust the berries on the left antler, doing her best to hide a smile. “Why else would I be wearing some?”

Scanlan seemed at a loss for words for a moment, and Keyleth watched the musicians arrive at the correct pages in their music, and start playing together, an upbeat and vaguely familiar tune that Keyleth was sure she’d heard at a previous Winter’s Crest - probably the one in Emon a year prior.

“I really don’t think… Oh, fuck it,” Scanlan said, hopping up from the bench to bow to Keyleth. “May I have this dance?”

“Well, if you insist, though I’m not the best dancer…” Keyleth said, chuckling as she stood and Scanlan practically dragged her to the center of the square, where a few other couples had already started something of a jig.

Keyleth had never learned many social dances - the Ashari used dance less for communal purposes and more for representing the elements around them - and she had never really been one for coordinated movement. (Her father had always said her talent made up for her lack of grace.) And yet, somehow, Scanlan was managing to lead her around the dance floor expertly, skipping between couples and keeping up with her hesitant steps despite the large height difference between them.

Well, until the song drew to a close and Scanlan attempted to dip her, his arms hardly long enough to wrap around her torso, her weight too much for him. He whistled quickly, summoning Bigby’s Hand to support her, and gave her a quick kiss on the corner of her lips that she barely was able to return before he pulled back, grinning, his chest heaving as her own was while they both gasped for air.

“Thank you for the dance, my lady,” Scanlan said, adding a flourishing arm of embellishment to his bow. “And Happy Winter’s Crest.”

“No, thank you, Scanlan,” Keyleth said with as neat a curtsy as she could perform, her face flushed with excitement and exertion. “And a Happy Winter’s Crest to you as well.”

Throat dry and spirit light, Keyleth waved goodbye to Scanlan and made her way to the tavern, coming out with a tankard of water after only a minute or so and taking a seat at one of the empty tables lining the street, looking around happily at the festivities.

“That’s some lovely mistletoe you’ve got there,” came Percy’s voice from behind her as he sat down.

“Thank you, Percy! I think it’s a nice touch, don’t you?” Keyleth asked, smirking slightly as she turned to face him.

“Very nice. Winter’s Crest-appropriate, as well.”

“Exactly. Though, it is poisonous, you know, which makes it an interesting choice for decoration.”

“Is it?” Percy asked, a smirk of his own sliding into place on his lips. “I guess I’ve never had any reason to eat mistletoe and find out, but thank you for letting me know. Now I’ll be aware should anyone try to feed me some.”

Keyleth laughed, and Percy laughed with her. He pulled her into a hug with one arm, kissing her forehead gently before releasing her.

“Has Vax seen this yet?” he asked, gesturing to the top of her headdress.

“He’s next on my list,” Keyleth said, glancing over to where the twins were standing together, cheering on Pike and Grog in the arm-wrestling competition.

“I usually wouldn’t recommend lists, but I think that’s a good plan,” Percy said, chuckling. “I’ll have to keep watch for that amusing interaction.”

“I hope it will be,” Keyleth said, reaching up to check that the vines she’d druidcrafted to hold the berries in place were still holding strong. “Well, no time like the present, right?”

“None at all,” Percy said with a knowing grin.

Keyleth made to stand, and Percy grabbed her hand.

“By the way, Happy Winter’s Crest, Keyleth.”

“Happy Winter’s Crest, Percy,” Keyleth said with a smile, waving farewell as she made her way over to the twins.

“Hello!” she greeted, approaching the two of them.

“Hello Keyleth!” Vex said, the look she gave Keyleth mildly confused until she replaced it with a wide smile and a wink. Keyleth let her own grin grow for a moment, then worked to school her expression, waiting for Vax to turn around.

“Hey, Kiki,” he said distractedly, watching Pike take down a teenager whose smug smile had been wiped clean off his face. When the gnome stood up proudly and fist-bumped

Grog, he turned to look at Keyleth with a smile that fell off his face after only a moment, replaced with a look of confusion.

“You’ve got mistletoe,” he said, tilting his head to the side.

“No shit, brother,” Vex said, elbowing him in the side. He elbowed her back.

“I just…” he seemed lost for words, and Keyleth made a supreme effort to keep herself from laughing and continue looking innocent and just a little confused at his words .

“Yes?”

“Uh, well…”

“Did you have a question?”

“Well, umm… Do the Ashari have a particular meaning for mistletoe? Being a plant, that is.”

Vax’ cheeks flushed and Keyleth lifted one hand to hide her laughter as she pretended to think about her answer.

“Mistletoe to us means life and longevity, I suppose, and can be used as a symbol of love. It’s also said to grant protection from poison, though I always find that strange since it’s actually a poisonous plant.”

Vax gulped audibly. “Is it?” he asked, his voice higher than it normally would be. “That’s interesting…”

He swallowed once and breathed deeply, then continued. “So, is there any special tradition the Ashari use mistletoe for during the holidays?” Vax asked, shifting from foot to foot with awkwardness screaming from him. Keyleth was quite sure it was the sort she was usually victim of and not witness to, and she had to admit, it felt rather good to be on the other side of things.

“We hang it up around Zephra, I suppose…” Keyleth said, deliberately vague. She found herself glancing at Vex, who smirked and winked at her from over Vax’s shoulder.

“But is there any…”

Vax made a vague gesture to his face and puckered his lips slightly.

“Is there any… what?” Keyleth probed, making Vex catch herself on a laugh.

“Yes, any what, brother?” she chimed in.

“You’re not helping!” Vax shot back over his shoulder. “Any- oh, you know!”

“Do I?”

“Kiki!”

“I don’t understand, Vax,” Keyleth said, softening her eyes with extreme difficulty, since she wanted nothing more than to burst out laughing. “Any what?”

She knew their relationship hadn’t progressed much outside the bedroom, but she hadn’t imagined such a strong reaction from him when faced with a public display of affection.

“I think he means any kisses, darling,” Vex said, stepping forward, which was all the warning Keyleth had before the ranger planted a kiss square on Keyleth’s lips.

It was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one, and Keyleth returned the kiss happily before Vex pulled away, cheeks flushed and with a sultry grin on her face.

“Vex!”

“Oh, but brother, you were just going to leave your girlfriend hanging while you stuttered about,” Vex said, turning back to him.

“That didn’t mean you had to just- I can’t believe you-”

“Vax, of course the Ashari tradition involves kissing,” Keyleth said, side-stepping Vex. “Doesn’t every tradition with mistletoe?”

“Well, I suppose,” Vax said, still looking very uncomfortable, his cheeks pink. “But then why-”

“-Did I wear some?” Keyleth asked, stepping toward him and lifting her hand to cup his cheek. “Why, just to see the look on your face, of course.”

And she kissed him, closing her eyes as their lips met, the warm breath against her face contrasting sharply with the cool air around them.

The kiss itself was soft and gentle and not at all how she had intended to kiss him, but she couldn’t complain. They held it for a long moment, then separated, and Vax sighed before resting his forehead against Keyleth’s, his cheeks still a darker pink than the winter air warranted.

“Part of me wants to be mad at you, but somehow I can’t manage it,” he said, reaching up to cover the hand that was still on his cheek.

“Glad to hear it,” Keyleth said, taking his fingers in her own. “Happy Winter’s Crest, Vax.”

“Happy Winter’s Crest, Kiki.”