#thanks a bunch to the donator to the fundraiser who prefers not to be named!

[dreamgirledward]

AMVS for Palestine 🇵🇸 Fundraiser

Hello! I'll be participating in this project with a few editor friends. Here's all the info about how it works and the full list of editors that are involved.

If you're interested in getting an amv made by me, please send me via DM proof of donation to any of the vetted fundraisers from this list. Once you've done that, you can give me a prompt for what you'd like and we can go from there.

I'll have 2 slots available and will be updating this post if they get filled:

$5 donation for a 30 second edit $10 donation for a 1 minute edit

slot 1 (available) | slot 2 (available)

Media I edit: supernatural, interview with the vampire amc, lord of the rings, and our flag means death. You can find my amvs here <3

More info below:

To ensure you're happy with the end result, I have just a few terms!

I'm open to most prompts but would prefer no taylor swift, metal, or country music.

these edits will be uncaptioned, however if this is an issue for you we can definitely discuss that further

comb through my amvs^ to get a feel for what I tend to lean towards so that you know we're a good fit. you can request anything initially that we'll plan together, but there's a bunch of really talented editors participating who all have different cutting styles, so just keep that in mind :)

when requesting a song, please send me the full title and artist's name so I know exactly what you want.

i'll be starting a new job august 19th and will not be able to edit during the day! so I ask that you please be patient and I'll be giving you regular updates once you've filled a slot.

Thank you for reading all of this and I look forward to hearing from you 🤑

[mysunfreckle]

The Rhythm of Life (is a Powerful Beat)

1k of Modern Magic AU Jehan and Grantaire friendship, written for the @bishopmyrielfundraiser for racial justice organisations.

Something very odd happens whenever Grantaire listens to music.

Jehan is sitting curled up in their chair, watching Grantaire draw. He’s focussed on his work, bent over his sketchbook and not even tapping his feet, but he has the headphones of his Walkman on his head and… They can’t explain why, but Jehan is certain they can hear – no, not hear, feel – the music he is listening to.

It’s happened before, but Jehan has never felt it so clearly. Nor have they ever taken the time to try and figure out what exactly they are feeling. But they are now.

Because it isn’t his magic. He isn’t using his magic right now. That would make sense for them to notice at least. Jehan doesn’t have second sight, but they’re sensitive. They do not need to see magic to be aware of it. They can feel it. However vague and hard to interpret. They can.

But what they can feel now is much, much stronger. It isn’t Grantaire’s magic that is moving in time with the music, nor his body, it’s…all the rest of him.

Jehan has always found it difficult to explain their gift. Their tutors talk about Life Force and Essential Energy, but to Jehan they what feel in people is life. Life in its entirety. Life at its core. They can feel it thriving within the confines of a person’s being. It’s a pulsing. Like a heartbeat, but…deeper, steadier. At least when the person is healthy and well.

Grantaire is healthy. Not as healthy as he could be, but healthy enough. But that gives no explanation for this…this rhythm. Where the steady pulse of his life should be is a swing, a cadence. It has a metre. Jehan feels like if they tried, they could tap along with the beat of Grantaire’s very soul right now…

They try. Slowly they map out the ups and downs, the tell-tale recurrences of a song. They almost get it- and they lose it. The rhythm is gone, the energy scatters, and they’re left with a confusing mess of loose ends in their head.

Jehan wrinkles their nose. Were they wrong? Only- No, the rhythm isn’t gone. It’s changed. Because here the feeling is again. Only different this time. And with another sort of beat entirely.

“R?”

Grantaire looks up from his sketchbook. “Hm?”

Jehan does their best to keep down the excitement in their voice. “Did your song just end?”

He frowns in momentary confusion. “Uh. Yeah?” He lifts up one of the shells of his headphones. “I haven’t got the volume up that high, do I??”

“No!” Jehan interrupts. “I can’t hear it!” Sparks light up in their eyes. “R I can feel it.”

“You can…” Grantaire puts down his pencil.  “Was I doing magic?” He sounds concerned and Jehan knows why. Grantaire has spent most of his life believing he couldn’t do magic. Or barely. But once they found how that his magic was tied to movement and once he learned how to tap into that, it became rather hard for him not to do magic.

“You weren’t,” they assure him hastily. “You weren’t even moving, I could just…it felt like I could feel you move on the inside. Like you’re…living to the beat of the music.”

Grantaire stares at them for a long moment. “Jehan Prouvaire,” he says finally. “You mean to tell me that your life-divining ass could feel my life force jamming to my tunes?”

“Jamming and jiving,” Jehan laughing, shimming in their chair a little.

“Are you kidding me.” Grantaire throws his hands up and Jehan feels a surge of power crackle through the air before immediately dissipating. “Do it again.” He leans heavily on the table, staring at Jehan head on. “I’m not moving, not singing along. Do it again.”

“Do what again?” Jehan laughed.

“You could feel it, right?” he urges. “You said you could feel the beat. Did you mean that literally? What’s my energy doing now?”

“Your life,” Jehan murmurs.

“My life,” Grantaire corrects hastily. “What do you feel now?”

Jehan drops their gaze down from his eager expression to be able to concentrate. Yeah, they can feel it again. Almost more clearly than before. Perhaps because Grantaire is excited now. But it’s hard to put into words. “It’s…” they begin hesitantly. “You’re doing…”

Instead of finishing the sentence they lift their hand, tapping on the armrest of their chair:

Tap, a-tap, a-tap-tap, tap, a-tap, a-tap-

“Holy shit.” Grantaire beams. “That’s the song! That’s the exact damn song! Jehan that’s insane!”

They laugh. It’s hard not to laugh when Grantaire is genuinely joyously excited about something. Bossuet likes to joke that he’d make a terrifyingly strong empath if his talents had gone that direction.

“But other people don’t do that, R,” they say delightedly. “I’ve never felt this before! You’re not even dancing and you’re still all in the music!”

Grantaire gets up from behind the table, pulling the headphones down to his neck. “Wait-” He grabs one of his eclectic mixtapes from the pile of cassettes. “Do you think you could guess what type of song I’m listening to as they switch from one to the other…?”

Jehan grins. “Only one way to find out.”

Seven songs and five correct guesses later Jehan is all triumph and Grantaire is practically filling the room with his unrestrained delight.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” he cheers. “This is the best thing since Gav set the registration office on fire.” He looks at Jehan with his eyes all lit up with affection. “You’re one of the most powerfully gifted people I have ever met and we are using your magic to do parlour tricks.”

“Well what else would I use it for?” Jehan grins. They lean back in their chair. “Now what I want to know is, how accurate can we get this?”

“And more importantly,” Grantaire says seriously, sitting down beside them with the utmost gravity. “How can we use it to either blow some minds.”

“Or get Courf to lose a bet and pay our drinks…” Jehan muses aloud.

Grantaire presses his hand to his hear. “See?” he sighs emphatically. “This is why we’re friends.”

---

A/N: This story takes place in the same universe as Second Sight. (A world that is stuck in analogue technology, because its easy integration with magic made the digital revolution less urgent). Some background on the characters:

Jehan: Was born with the talent to sense and manipulate life force. There are two ways you can go with that, healing and necromancy. Their family are adamant it shouldn’t be necromancy. They never received formal tutoring beyond the basic levels, because of how controversial their gift is. Works in a flower shop with strangely unwilting flowers. Since they can literally touch the force of someone's life, they can easily sense how strong it is and if there's anything wrong.

Grantaire: Has no talent for a specific type of magic, but his power is directly linked to physical movement. He was absolutely rubbish at magic until his tutor struck on the idea of teaching him sign language. When he signs Grantaire can cast extremely well and he’s learned that dancing is the best way for him to draw up a lot of magical energy.

[jm-fan-street-team]

On Monday morning, February 6th, a message came into our email Inbox that had us sobbing and smiling simultaneously.

In honor of the upcoming RARE DISEASE DAY, February 28, 2017, we’d like to share the full contents of said letter with you all (see below the squiggly line).  

Because this letter moved us so very much, we donated all of our Etsy store profits for January 2017 to The Isaac Foundation’s MPS II Fund, in honor of Trey Purcell and John Mayer fans around the globe.  They totaled $56.02 USD, or $71.31 in Canadian dollars.

This donation brings the total we have raised for The Isaac Foundation and MPS kids to $7,404.05. 

Here’s the letter, and it’s a MUST READ.

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Dear Trey and MPS II enthusiasts!

Enthusiasts may not be the preferred word- I’ve used “supporters” in the past- but sometimes you’ve got to keep it light in the often very dark world of MPS II. Plus, if you’re a Trey enthusiast, you’ve gotta be an MPS II enthusiast- they go hand in hand.

I hope this e-blast finds you well and living an uneventful and content life! One of the many things I’ve learned living with MPS II in my life is that uneventful and content is AMAZING. “Eventful” for people in our world means emergencies and surgeries and progression and sadness and fear and loss. There I go jumping into “deep and dark” right off the bat! But that’s the way it is with MPS II, so thanks for supporting us despite, with and through that. Us MPS folks get real quick.

In the past few months I’ve started a number of blogs that got interrupted by life, so I’ll give you a shortened version here, followed by information about our yearly Vancouver Scotiabank 5K & ½ Marathon fundraiser! Here goes:

One of Trey’s biggest changes in the past year is starting school- high school no less (Trey turns 13 on March 1, which is INCREDIBLE). Trey homeschooled until now. The elementary public school system in BC is just not set up for a kid like Trey. Trey wants to be included, but can’t do anything at grade level, so he would have been pulled out of class for almost everything, which would have been sad and hard. I found a high school program though, that is basically a mini Special Ed school within a larger public school. Kids in the Special Ed program can be integrated into things that they can participate in meaningfully, and stay in the Special Ed classrooms for things they can’t. The neat thing is, because the program is so big, even when Trey isn’t integrated, there’s a bunch of other kids around, so he’s not alone or isolated.

I am IN LOVE with the program. The highlight of the program is that the woman in charge of Trey’s program SEES Trey. She sees the well-intentioned, good-hearted, kind, friendly, generous and beautiful kid that is my son. She doesn’t see only the kid who tells adults “you have to go” when he wants understandable control and independence over his life or a kid who most of the world sees as disabled. Another aspect of the program that I am so grateful for is that they REALLY understand teens with intellectual disabilities. I didn’t realize until Trey joined this program, how lost I felt and how much there is to learn for a mom of a teen with special needs. I was clueless. Imagine transportation, friendship, going on outings and joining programs without an adult who knows Trey well, using a public restroom, and puberty (to name a few) for someone who is intellectually a young child and doesn’t understand all the social intricacies of our culture. It’s complex, sometimes scary and wonderfully heart-warming. I am on board with this journey. I LOVE the families we have met. They get me, they get us. I’ve always had my MPS II dragon moms (and a few dads too ☺) to talk to and support me, but they are far away and can’t get together very often for playdates. We’re finding community here. For his 13th birthday party, for the first time ever, we are inviting Trey’s FRIENDS to his party. HIS friends.

For medical updates, Trey continues to receive weekly IV Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) and monthly IT ERT which is still in clinical trial- no major updates there.  We also still have our every 6-12 month doctors appointments, which goes hand in hand with anticipation and trepidation. The spinal cord in Trey’s neck is compressed enough from build-up that he can no longer ski, toboggan, skate, do gymnastics or anything else with a risk of falling. Falling risks paralysis. This is obviously hard news to bear, but in the scheme of MPS, it is literally not the end of the world like MPS can be (AND it doesn’t require surgery at this point), so we are grateful and find joy in other activities. Trey also received a new port last July for his IV infusions; his previous port lasted something like 8-years, so it did him well.

And last but not least in the updates of our family, another discovery for me: raising siblings to a child with a rare and progressive disease. Avery is currently participating in a sibling support group for kids with special needs, which is a big deal. Our family is so used to our family that sometimes we forget just how different our family is from most. We can’t play family board games or do family puzzles or go on family bike rides or go on family vacations with any kind of ease or relaxation. We can’t leave anything lying around the house without it getting broken. Avery and Sadie get frustrated often- it SUCKS when you forget and leave something out only to discover it ruined- which needs validation and leads to conversations about compassion, empathy, and all of our differences and strengths and weaknesses. On the flipside, they patiently help with shower routines, shoe tying, reading, buttering toast, and are scared of what might happen to Trey and worry about how they will support him once Ryan and I can no longer do so. There are a lot of things coming up for Avery and Sadie having a sibling with MPS, but I am learning and we are talking. They are (Raleigh too- she gets a LOT of love from Trey ☺) are incredible siblings.

I’ll wrap this up and get to the Scotiabank Run. On Sunday, June 25, we’re running in the Vancouver Scotiabank 5K & ½ Marathon to raise funds for MPS II Research. If you’d like to join us and run in the 5K or ½ Marathon, shoot me an email at: purcelldeb@gmail.com. If you’d like to donate, please go to: www.treypurcell.com. There is a donate button on the right side of the page. 99% of donations go to research. Not all charities can say this!

Since 2007 when our family began the MPS II Research Fund, our fund has grown. A number of Canadian MPS II families have joined our fund and The Isaac Foundation, and are organizing their own fundraisers. Jack Higginson lives with MPS II and his family is organizing a gala on April 29 in Peterborough, Ontario. If you’re in the area, their huge extended family is one to meet (they’re funny and loving and passionate and real), and all proceeds go to MPS II! See their website for more details: http://www.jacksjourney.ca/

With love and endless gratitude for your support, Deb, Ryan, Trey, Avery, Sadie and Raleigh

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The MPS II Research Fund is administered through The Isaac Foundation for MPS Treatment and Research, charitable business number 80693 0079 RR0001.

We are proud that 99% of all money donated goes directly toward research projects that aim to find a cure for MPS diseases. Last year, the MPS II Fund provided grants totalling $50,000 to two innovative gene-therapy projects specifically aimed at finding a cure for MPS II.

For more information about the MPS II Fund, visit us on the web at www.treypurcell.com.  To visit The Isaac Foundation's Official Charity site, please visit www.theisaacfoundation.com.

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NOTE:  We are an informal group of worldwide John Mayer fans who came together in support of The Isaac Foundation.  Please see our Full Disclaimer in the right margin of our page.