#their contact books were great for finding a bunch of the others :)

[venusararara]

Also a second question (I'm so sorry-)

Is there anything that other little murderers do that Gatherine would think is crossing the line? Like, something another murderer could do that she would see as wrong? Or is she more of the mindset of do whatever you want, you do you?

"I'm not very fond of dangerous doctors! :)"

"Though, I do work well with stalkers! So committed, it's admirable. They can be so hard to find, though, they're always hiding! Except Carter..."

"If you're killing without reason, I'll make your life very complicated, very quickly, like Carter!"

[aerkame]

Haha, hi *winks at you* (●▪◡<●)ﾉ [please tell me if any of this makes you super duper uncomfy I did read the rules I'm just scared]

Wally Darling x Stressed out! Reader.,.,

[Remember that silly idea you had?! I liked it a lil too much]

The neighbor [us], had a terrible day at work, slamming open the door to their house and [not even thinking twice] immediately falling into the arms of the person who greeted them at the door. Much to their demise, said person is Wally. Wally falls limp upon being hugged, staring down at the reader who freezes once they realize who they came in contact with. They attempt to pull away but Wally.. Being Wally. Holds them in place with a stupid smile.

Twirls my hair, giggles and runs away [I'm so so so so so so sorry if this didn't make any sense imn sorry I leorve yoru writingzzzznbs I'M SORRY PLRASE FORGIVE ME]

I like my original idea as well, I'm hoping to start a full series next week!

________________________________________________________

Today did not go well at all. You had to stay extra hours at work because some group of rowdy teens decided it would be great to come into the library and start messing with the books. One had even decided to start tearing out pages from a kids' study book. The library is probably going to take that one to court, some of those books are expensive to replace and you had to spend hours reorganizing everything that was carelessly thrown across the halls and find missing pages. At least you were finally home though. You stumbled up to the front door dangling the keys in your hand as you tried and failed a few times to properly unlock the door.

You gave a sigh as you heard a distinct 'click' and swung the door open not paying attention to your surroundings and slamming it behind you. Turning towards the closet, you slowly took your shoes off before setting them down neatly inside. Gotta set a good example and keep things clean for your guests, even when you wanted to just throw things around and sleep sometimes...It really was like you just had a bunch of kids out of nowhere. At least Wally and Barnaby were here to help you.

"Welcome home dear host-"

Quickly turning around to whoever was speaking, you leaned over and plopped yourself into their greeting arms. You felt you had fallen into something soft and warm. What a welcomed feeling after today.

"Well that's one way of greeting your guests." Arms snaked around your torso as they hugged you closely. You froze, finally recognizing the voice that's been speaking to you. Slowly looking up, you saw Wally, whose face had a giant grin on it. That was not a welcomed feeling after today.

Quickly trying to pull away, you heard quiet snickering from the side somewhere. You finally managed to pop your head out of his arms, the rest of your body now snuggly wrapped in them. There was Barnaby and Sally sitting there at the dinner table watching you two and giving each other knowing looks. "Awww, looks like someone's a bit of a sleepy head!" Sally smiled as Wally walked passed them not making a single sound.

You were somewhat used to this by now. Usually Wally treated you like some significant other that needed extra care. He would pick you up and tightly hold you for hours while getting chores done in the house with you struggling and kicking until you wore yourself out, tuck you into bed at night or on sick days, paint and draw several portraits of you, make you warm food after work some days (though you wondered how he even learned how to cook), and dance with you late at night on the porch with quiet music playing. Other times the two of you would get lost in deep conversations after a long day of work, it was like he knew you without needing to know you. Wally was always so smug when he did anything though, like he knew it would get on your nerves, which it did at first. But over the past several weeks you grew used to him being coy. You felt too exhausted and stressed out to talk much today though. You didn't feel like doing much of anything really so you just let Wally do whatever he wanted for now.

You pushed against his arms only when he started to squeeze a bit too hard to let him know. He didn't loosen up however and instead made a beeline for your room, quietly opening the door and setting you down on your bed. You moved to get up but a hand came down onto your shoulder to pin you down. "Just stay here...I have something I made for you." He spoke softly for once.

Wally soundlessly walked out of your room and returned with a steaming cup of what looked like tea. You watched him effortlessly balance the cup in one hand as he removed your jacket, slinging it over his open shoulder before bringing a blanket over your legs.

"There! Now isn't that much better?"

For once you didn't see that smug or condescending grin of his. You saw something much warmer in that charming smile. You gave him a nod and gently took the cup out of his hands.

The reader works at a very busy public library for some context.

I've always wanted a job at a library. I don't know if they'd let me work at one though. I wasn't a bad kid, but there was one thing I did steal and that was a book from the library on fossils. I didn't really understand some of the words though when I was 7, but I loved that book either way.

[rock-in-robins]

Young Just Us AU (or not depends tbh) of a yj that are more morally gray than their typically portrayed as. If they didn't kill canon they don't kill here, but pretty much everything else? well, if it gets the job done. Here the yj is kinda like how they were in the show, an off the books 'black ops' type of team, but with way less supervision.

They have little to no relationship with the league after realizing how badly they failed them as kids. The only they keep in contact with each other is that they both know yj knows too much and is too powerful to be in that complete gray area.

With everyone else mostly retired it's the core four (but others come help if their in town), and their known as a powerhouse team who is scarily good at what they do. They've got three major powerhouses and a world class strategist, all of who have some very impressive feats under their belts.

Their funded by Tim who is still CEO/Majority shareholder of WE, though he's starting to get involved with Drake Industries, he's in the odd place of partner/son/colleague place with Bruce that he can never quite escape. But after the timestream/eurotrip thing he's ready to take the next step forward, without batman.

Kon and Clark have reached a point where they understand each other, but for both interacting is just painful all round. so they aren't super close but will always come if the other calls, both say they'll try harder in a year or two, who knows if they ever will. kon doesn't know how to forgive clark for their earlier relationship, that, he is working on.

Cassie and Diana are still great but Cassie can't forgive the way the league has treated her people, especially as their leader. so she works/trains with Diana but want's nothing to do with the rest of the league.

For Bart, he and Wally have some cain and able shit going on so post max's death they still interact on occasion but thats about it. all parties are doing their own thing and everyone is ok with that.

this entire au is YJ becoming more independant and kicking ass and finding a bunch of loners they mentor/adopt

[bl0rbohandbag]

– more vampire the masquerade x changeling the lost concepts that will not leave me alone. (part 2)

continuation of this post: part 1. "but vtm and ctl are from different settings–" shhhhhh :) if you've seen this post before no you didn't

before i begin: i have been dabbling in vampire the masquerade and changeling the lost content for a while, i am not a fan of changeling the dreaming and vampire the requiem is unfamiliar to me. anyway! buckle up, enjoy the ride, this is another long post!!

trigger warning for obsessive behavior, abuse/unhealthy relationships because vamps again, i guess.

– you're a changeling. kidnapped into arcadia and trapped there for who knows how long. in your durance, you dream of going back home, of reuniting with your friends and family, escaping your keeper to finally, finally enjoy freedom in the world you were born in.

– and one day, you do escape. back into your world, never feeling completely safe with your keeper looking to get you back and huntsmen being a very real threat, but you're ready to rebuild your life and enjoy your newfound freedom.

– except...

after a series of events, you have been forcibly/begrudingly assimilated into a coterie. perhaps a tremere found out about your changeling nature and took great interest in the faerie magic you can wield, deeming it useful for their interests, or maybe a friend or relative of yours turn out to be kindred and are now dragging you into their messes.

(this is particularly annoying if you're more of a diurnal faerie, rising with the sun and going to sleep as soon as it goes down. your circadian rhythm sucks [no pun intended] now that you're up until 3 am running around with a bunch energetic vamps.)

(bonus points if the other members of the coterie don't know what you are, initially mistaking you for a random human and being confused as to why you're there.)

you're not very familiar with kindred, but at this point you're not as wary of them as you should be, either. after all, you've dealt with the treachery and cruelty of the fae, traversed goblin markets, escaped the hedge - you think you can handle yourself pretty well.

(... that's why you see no problem in making a pledge with that mysterious fanged gentleman, offering your blood in exchange for whatever you might need in return. when the pledge is over and they're no longer needed, you ghost them, unknowingly leaving behing a vampire who is now addicted to changeling blood, your changeling blood, and the rush of human emotions brought by being in contact with glamour, no matter how terrible the withdrawal feels.)

on another hand, purposefully letting a vampire drink your blood to torment them might be a fun little prank >:)

(note/context: there is a bit of a contradiction regarding how kindred reacts to changeling blood. some books mention that it doesn't do anything different than a human's, but tastes heavenly and causes no damage to the vampire consuming it, and it might even resurface human feelings or emotions long forgotten. however, changeling the lost: rites of spring, though establishing that changeling blood isn't directly harmful to kindred, still has a hallucinatory effect on them. it is said that the vampire suffers -1 penalty to perception rolls every vitae worth of changeling's blood they consume, because they suffer misleading visions that also plague the Lost of low Clarity, a.k.a it causes one hell of a bad trip ["faces sprout in the environment and babble nonsense rhymes, colors shift and bleed, the outlines of objects warp and shudder."] that lasts until the vampire sleeps it off, and even then they might be plagued with vivid nightmares. so i guess whatever works best.)

a kindred parent who has dedicated their life to finding their missing child after witnessing their kidnapping by an otherworldy, inhuman creature. it might very well be the reason they sought out the embrace, in the first place, after learning their child might still be alive even after centuries have passed, and to be strong enough to protect them from whoever tries to take them back.

using oneiromancy on your malkavian mother to give her beautiful, pleasant, peaceful dreams. perhaps she dreams of you, and picnics with food she can taste under a summer's day sky, and the sun on her skin doesn't burn or frighten her. and it feels so real, so much so that she is filled with a sense of warmth and longing she can never shake off. you do what you can to take care of her. from a distance.

traditionalist ancilla parent who naturally turns to you when they are experiencing issues with technology or anything related to the modern world because you are their child and therefore should know about this stuff, but they forget you were stuck in Arcadia for like three hundred years and you have no idea how to operate an IPhone.

if anyone remembers the ventrue dad using his ghouls as his changeling child's bodyguards, let me expand on that: you are an absolute MENACE to the ghouls babysitting you. if you have been isolated from the world, that means they're basically your social circle, so you talk their ears off and trick them for fun quite often. not only that, but they're the ones that have to run around to retrieve you when they notice you have succesfully escaped again.

(this might evolve into the ghouls becoming your sorta kinda motley. they figure that taking you out during the day won't hurt when you're under their supervision, as long as it means you'll stop running away. you end up dragging them into all sorts of changeling shenanigans, from seasonal court drama to trips to the goblin market, pledges gone awry and etc. they become quite involved in the whole changeling thing. and you STILL prank them when you're bored.)

now the dynamic between the changeling child and their parent's revenants far more removed from humanity might be... interesting.

alternatively, a fetch-maker changeling making a fetch of themselves in order to escape their captor, be it their parent, a partner or a just a kindred who got too interested in them.

(alternatively again, a fetchmaker changeling will continuously make fetches of themselves to throw off/escape their vampire, and said vampire just keeps noticing the differences every single time. it might take them a while, but they notice!)

a vampire who wants you but cannot have you going after your fetch and seducing them instead, maybe even in a conscious attempt to disturb you.

(drinking the fetch's blood will make them immediately regret it, though. fetch blood is just... Not A Fun Time).

a tzimisce's vicissitude is an all too familiar horror.

ancilla toreador who enjoys toying with emotions and sire their lovers just to abandon them after x centuries-old, manipulative fairest who spent their long durance in arcadia being revered for their beauty and talent = potentially the most toxic interaction to ever exist, so nuclear people grow extra limbs just from existing within their vicinity.

(tldr: toreador x fairest cunt off who wins)

"nice is different than good" is a lesson you thought you learned after years of dealing with all sorts of fae creatures, be it the gentry, hobgoblins or even your own changeling peers. but you're not in arcadia anymore, and isn't learning how to trust again a part of healing? ... and somehow that means ignoring the red flags your newly-acquired partner is exhibiting. point is: you didn't exactly sign up for a vampire making your strange life even stranger, but now they're becoming more and more attached to you. not that you're aware of this, or the fact that they're kindred, but you'll find out. oh, you'll find out.

(eventually, their vampire antics are bound to catch up to you. eventually, your changeling antics are bound to catch up to them. it's just a matter of which one will happen first.)

(unhealthy kindred relationship tendencies aside, it's not absurd a vampire lover or secret admirer would become obsessed with a changeling, without even knowing the changeling's true nature. there's just something about them. becoming the subject of obsessive behavior is possible, romantic, platonic or otherwise, born out of a spark of curiosity or a grudge. look at rose gonzalez and roddy van bastelaar, for example.

and if they are aware of what you are, it's all the better. you're like a fairy-tale come to life! but changelings can be a little too similar to their keepers sometimes, and it sometimes backfires. add an obsessed or scorned vampire into the mix and you'll have a recipe for disaster.)

alternatively, a good, healthy (as it can be) relationship with a vampire that absolutely embraces the whole changeling lifestyle. anarchs? camarilla? no. a nosferatu or hecata girlfriend would feel right at home at the moon court's freehold. a tremere boyfriend would love nothing more than to sit with their autumn court changeling partner and read through piles and piles of old books on fairy magic.

a spring courtier changeling helping a vampire acquire necessary information using memory of trees.

(vampire: so you're telling me that you know that one scripture i've been looking for over twenty years is buried underneath the chapel because a fucking tree told you about it?

spring courtier changeling: yes? :3)

when a malkavian surprises you with a cryptic prophetic vision about your life, surprise them back! tell them about the cryptic prophetic vision you had about them, and try to rope them into a pledge by telling them you can alter their fate with simple little spell :) for a price, of course :)

in true fairy-tale fashion, you return home to find that not only your parent has been embraced in your time away, but they have found a lover as undead as they are. maybe it's their sire, maybe someone they met after becoming kinred. but while your parent is overjoyed with your miraculous return, your new evil step-parent just sees you as a nuisance.

(there are so many ways this dynamic can be expanded upon!

not being aware of your parents and their partner's vampirism, but still feeling that something is fundamentally off whenever you're at their new fancy mansion/penthouse [maybe your live there. maybe you drop by for a visit, after they get you settled in a nice house or apartment close by]. your new stepfather is insufferable, eccentric and treats you coldly, perhaps outright shitty when your parent is not around, but your parent seems happy enough - or not, but they won't hear a word of concern from you.

and if you are aware, then... well. they'll just take it as an opportunity to further terrify you.)

[iinryer]

I wanna get into boxing so baaad I need to get back to my jock roots too lol any tips??

CHOMPING AT THE BIT EVERYONE SHOULD TRY BOXING ITS MY FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLDDDD

oh my god ok. my starter tip is to find a gym! it may seem super intimidating, but there are beginners gyms and no-contact gyms that aren’t really for sparring or training as much as they are for learning and general cardio workouts!! those are a GREAT place to start to get familiar with it.

im not sure where you’re located, but i recommend TITLE boxing gyms! theyre a chain and sooooo so beginner friendly, scheduled time slots (which helps for people like me who need external structure) that can be added and cancelled via their app, they’re no-contact (it’s all heavy bag and equipment work, not sparring), and when I started going they did first session free and they let you borrow gloves! the only thing i had to buy were hand wraps which was like $10. they had me arrive a little early and showed me the gym, introduced me to the trainer for that night, showed me how to wrap my hands, and walked me through all six strikes! i joke that the sessions are like boxing jazzercise 😂 it’s music and a bunch of people at heavy bags with a trainer on mic calling combos! they also format the workouts like boxing rounds too which is fun

it’s been a couple of years so I don’t do group guided workouts anymore, but it was SUCH a great way to get started. now I train with friends or just book an open gym slot so i can heavy bag on my own or use the other equipment etc.

if you’re not vibing with the concept of hard mode joining an actual training and sparring gym right off the jump, i highly recommend finding a TITLE-esque gym in your area! they will get you set up with literally everything you need to do it for the first time, and then from there you can kind of tailor what you want it to be! i have tons of hand wraps and two pairs of gloves now, i even have proper boxing shoes and i train on occasion—but mostly I just do solo workouts when i get the chance! you might be into immediately pursuing a sparring track and get geared the fuck up, or maybe you’ll just always borrow gloves from a led-cardio gym, ymmv! but imo it’s a really really great way to just get your foot in the door and figure out what you like!

anyways. i love boxing. everybody should try boxing

[inverse-problem]

hiii you posted something about having read most of the like, recommended books with robots in them and i was just curious if you would be cool with listing some that youd rec? trying to read more books with robots in them and curious for ideas :]

sure! was gonna do a whole organized post but I may as well just get some down for now. not gonna be an exhaustive list (there's a bunch on my to-read list I don't want to rec before I read it myself), my summaries may be dubious, my taste may also be dubious, but here's a few I liked. I definitely recommend seeking stuff out outside of my list bc honestly it's quite limited now that I'm looking at it lol. be warned also that a lot of these deal with heavy themes of stuff including identity, bodily autonomy, etc. (idk which specific topics may be an issue so be sure to consult a trigger list if necessary). also I have yet to find anything with a robot romance that I find particularly compelling but ah well

the murderbot diaries series by martha wells: pretty much everyone's gonna recommend these to you, and for good reason imo, they're quite solid. main character is basically a security guard cyborg (humanoid but not human) who hacked its programming and is trying to figure out what it actually wants to do with itself now that it has free will. all it wants to do is watch tv shows in its head and avoid interacting with people, but life-or-death situations and its penchant for wanting to rescue people keep getting in its way

the imperial radch series by ann leckie: sentient spaceship ai that once had hundreds of human bodies all networked to a central ai, on a revenge quest. lots of themes of identity, lots of space geopolitics, a big horrendous empire that people are grappling with being complicit in, and an interesting take on a single-gendered society inspired by ursula leguin's the left hand of darkness (also a solid book, no robots there though). gets quite intense at times because of the sorts of horrors that evil empires get up to

17776 by jon bois: (note the link is to a website that turns into the story when you scroll through, watch out if flickering/eyestrain/etc is an issue) technically not a book but a multimedia webnovel of sorts (with short animations and videos, but mostly written as dialogue between characters). it's the year 17776, a lot of places are underwater, humanity has found itself immortal, and several space probes have gained sentience. now, the space probes busy themselves with watching and discussing what the humans are doing to entertain themselves, which mostly involves really absurd games of football. a bit absurdist and existential but very fun, even if you don't know much about football

the monk and robot series, by becky chambers: this one is very chill; a monk in a cozy post-industrial future setting doesn't know what they want from life so they go on adventure on impulse and meet a robot. robots have been out of contact with humanity for a long time, so both of them learn a lot from each other

the wayfarers series, also by becky chambers: haven't read all of them yet but the first book is a chill character-driven space road trip story with a friendly ship ai. lots of found family themes, and great if you like seeing a story where people are working together and are really in their element. the sequels tell other stories set in the same universe, most of which also feature robot characters, and there's interesting alien characters there too

activation degradation, by marina j lostetter: a robot gets activated on a space mining platform during an alien attack, and has to deal with a bunch of ensuing chaos and misinformation. I mostly found the plot twists interesting here, the characters themselves were so-so to me

obligatory asimov recommendations, caveat that his work is old and has historical biases etc, but also that's where you get the three laws of robotics so welp. I, robot is an interesting collection of short stories, mostly focusing on how the three laws of robotics actually can break down in various situations. there's also the robot trilogy which is basically a buddy cop detective story with a human from earth and a robot from space and they solve murders. lots of caveats with this rec (for one, I'm not big on cop shit to put it mildly) but asimov does do some interesting worldbuilding and society building with how the earth and space societies differ. there's the foundation series that follows from these books but I haven't read that haha

the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy series by douglas adams: only one prominent robot here who sporadically shows up, but also this series is just a fun time. the premise is that earth gets destroyed by aliens to make way for an unnecessary space highway, and one very tired human survives and bounces around the galaxy encountering all sorts of weird situations. lots of humourous satire, some a bit dated at this point but much still holds up. also douglas adams just has a way with words

individual short stories:

fandom for robots by vina jie-min prasad: a robot learns what fandom is! a very fun read imo

a guide for working breeds, also by vina jie-min prasad, whose writing I really like in general tbh: robots dealing with a contract job economy

68:hazard:cold by janelle c. shane: robot stranded on an ice planet. I really like the description of how a robot's view of the world and communication protocols might look

cat pictures please by naomi kritzer: an ai wants to be helpful to humanity but doesn't quite know how; a nice benevolent ai story

there were other short stories I also liked but I can't find where I put them now, welp. let me know if you read and enjoy any of these, though!

[barbiegirldream]

where's my Song of Achilles anon at ! I read the book. liked some stuff didn't like other stuff. it was fanficition of a two thousand year old poem from a three thousand or more year old story. stuff gets silly. Odysseus was still my favorite he's always my guy. Anyway rest of my thoughts under the cut

I think I liked the perspective of Patroclus a really normal guy next to the warrior of the ages. One pov of a boy unsure of his place in the world surrounded by men older and claiming to be wiser and his godly boytoy.

this personally made me cackle. Patroclus is that oh my god get him some brown contacts please meme.

The myths were actually pretty good. I like how vague they were about Patroclus's mother there are like six different women in history claimed to be her it's really Patroclus's paternal ancestors that matter.

I think it's genuinely a major issue with the plot that Patroclus knew of the prophecy and still acted in accordance to Homeric Legend. I just think he should have found out right before but too late when they're in Troy already perhaps in an angry scorn from Thetis about he'll lose too.

Like you I also thought it was stupid as fuck how Patroclus was a totally useless twink. Didn't even know about legendary Myrmidons the fighting force named after his great grandfather mind you. The mythic ant stuff is literally his own family history.

Achilles being so nervous about the war only to fall into it so easily. Like a god finding their domain he was born for it. I really enjoyed the nitty gritty of war planning too. Him getting Achilles dressed the lips being the only part of him still soft. That was awesome why is that no quoted more. Achilles climbing onto Patroclus covered in blood like god that scene is going to be in my head on a loop. There is so much to it. Patroclus knowing him by scent and touch alone but what creature has come to wake him? Achilles so proud of what he's done seeing the revulsion in his lover who was so sure nothing Achilles could do would revolt him.

There could have for sure been so much more to a much more sensitive Patroclus being unable to love Achilles anymore and that's why Achilles stops fighting until Patroclus realizes he can't hold back his demigod lover from greatness. Taking the book in a radical direction but alas.

Brisies was very well done I appreciated her character a lot. I think it was a very good choice to expand on her mythos and remove a lot of the violence. People often read myths and go oh so he raped her when that's either not stated in the text/not needed to include other than their fetishes driving them.

ALSO so fucking annoying Patroclus doesn't die because he's no good at fighting he dies because Hector is Better. Hector is the sole reason the Acheans struggled. He was the Trojan Achilles idk how that point got turned into well Patroclus could barely hold a spear tee hee. Spending the whole book being like Patroclus can't fight ooh one of Achilles's generals is useless. To then be like jk as in accordance with the Iliad he's really good and killed a bunch of people is actually bad writing sorry. I did giggle at Apollo just fucking with him knocking him off the wall all pretty like just twirling his perfect hair.

Turning Troilus the son of Apollo who Achilles chased down tried to rape and then beheaded in the temple of Apollo leaving his mutilated body for his father to die and therefore the reason Apollo kills him into a random death cause the boy was an idiot. Like Troilus literally the Greek representation of losing a young son to unjust murder. Well okay then...

Thetis raising Achilles's son here is so perfect because that boy is rancid. He saw Agememnon and said I could do worse watch I'll go kill Hector's baby just for fun. And they really delivered on what a piece of fucking shit he was.

Thetis giving in, in the end was really good. Liked it

Overall I think the book was really good. I approached it from the knowledge this is taking thousands of years of myths and giving it to the perspective of a side character and I think it delivered.

[siriannatan]

How to Make An Unlikely Friendship - Witch!Scott and Empires!Shelby

Just a funny little Idea that suddenly hit me :}

AO3

Evil Sausage turned out to not be as nice as Shelby thought. And she couldn't stop him herself. And no one could find Sausage. He would know what to do. Shelby was a witch and not a mage or a sorcerer or a wizard. Evil Wizards were a bit beyond her capabilities. She would have to find Sausage. The normal, good one who could contact his goddess.

She did have a plan for how to find him. She could not ask witches at the academy or her grandma or even other emperors for advice so... she found a spell to communicate with great witches of other dimensions and even times. Someone considered great by magic itself would without doubt be more than capable of helping her. There was no way it could go wrong.

The ritual was relatively simple. Some ingredients for the chalk she needed were a bit troublesome to get but she managed. And other than that it was just the correct phase of the moon. Prepare the circle and candles and the herbal effigy to burn and she was good to go to invite a Great Witch for a chat. She wasn't sure how exactly that would work, the book she was using did not explain that part, but that probably meant it was not a big deal. The Greatest Storm Witch, as the author was signed, must have known what they were doing. They were the Greatest after all.

And so Shelby went through the ritual. For a second, after she cast the spell, nothing has happened but then there was a whole bunch of smoke. And coughing. "What in the sake of all hells?" Shelby heard a somewhat familiar voice. Scott? She thought. did she end up summoning a Scott from some different dimension? A Great Witch Scott? "Are you playing with magic you should not again, Pris?" the 'Scott' asked.

"I'm not a 'Pris', I'm Shelby, A Great Witch of this area," Shelby introduced herself and cast a small gust to get the smoke away faster. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, I can't really control who this spell summons," she added.

This was certainly not the Scott she knew. Not with all the black and dark green and spooky vibes. And was he not breathing or was it her imagination?

"No, no, some rest will not hurt me, others are no challenge anyway. I'm Scott, the necromantic witch, a candidate for the Supreme Witch," Scott introduced himself with a bow and the sass Shelby very much connected to the Scott she knew. "What was that spell even supposed to do? I have a bit of expertise with summoning. And why did you summon me?" he grinned as he dusted off his robes. They were rather nice, nicer than any set of robes Shelby ever had herself. But it made sense he was a candidate for a Supreme Witch. Whatever that was sounded impressive.

So Shelby explained her predicament. And Scott listened, nodding along and not saying anything until she was done.

"Yeah, your friend sounds like the best solution, we have no idea what would happen if I dabbled too much in that. And while I can't get him back, I know someone who can. A demon, friendly one, don't worry, he helped me a lot," Scott finally said and pulled out a thick, bound with dark leather and metal. An impressive book. "Well, he's harmless as long as we're staying safe," he added with a grin.

Scott was not a 'good' kind of witch. Not in the academy's way. He was more of a 'whatever solves the problem without causing too many other problems' kind of witch. Curses. Demons. Necromancy. And one of the participants in a competition for the title of Supreme Witch. Not something that happened in this dimension, sadly. Shelby was sure she'd do great in that.

Summoning Leonard - as the demon was called apparently, took them only a few hours. Scott really knew what he was doing. And it was more than eager to help when Scott offered to 'let him meet Pris again' whatever or whoever this Pris was must have been an impressive person if a demon was interested in them. The demon easily brought Sausage who, without paying any mind to a demon or a necromancer just rushed off to Sanctuary to fight his evil alternate self. 

"He could not see us, I can vanish and Leonard went home," Scott explained before Shelby could even ask. "I suppose I still have a few hours here, the spell, I believe, keeps me here for 24 hours at best," he hummed looking around the foggy swamp. "This place looks... fun."   "The fog's dangerous if you get lost in it, I'm working on getting rid of it," Shelby explained and invited him for tea and cookies. She might as well since she was the one who dragged him to this dimension.

Scott was more than eager for tea and cookies. "I don't remember when someone else booked or baked for me last time... Zombies are rubbish at it," he snickered, offering Shelby an arm.

They spend the rest of Scott's summoning time talking about magic and how limiting the idea of 'good' was. And Shelby learned about Pris. Apparently, she was Scott's self-proclaimed rival and 'fighter of good'. 

"She accused me of wanting to take over the world even, like... Do I look like I want that responsibility?" Scott laughed, he was telling a story of a duel he had with Pris. A duel she requested, lost, and denied Scott's win, demanding an instant rematch like four times in a row. "If she kept away from my magic and apologised for being rude I'd leave her alone, I did it when Joey did," Scott sighed shaking his head.

Another familiar name. And that Joey sounded just as annoying as the local Pirate so Shelby told Scott about her problems with him. And how cool Katherine is. And Scott told her about his best friends Eloise and Cleo, and some other witches he knew. Like the Storm Witch, his dimension's Shelby. Shelby was honestly a bit jealous this Scott had so many witch friends. She never had many friends back in the Academy. She did stay off the topic of local Scott since just mentioning him had her guest looking down.

It was a bit sad when he vanished in a puff of greenish smoke.

[eldritchaccident]

Timing: Current Location: The Bizarre Feat: @vanoincidence & @eldritchaccident Warnings: None! Summary: Van wanders into the bizarre by accident and runs into Teddy!

Van wasn’t sure how she’d stumbled upon the market, and it was obvious by the looks on the faces of those who surrounded her. She felt severely out of place, and she looked it, too. She wrapped her arms around herself, keeping her head low. One wrong step, and the bright blinking arches had been staring at her. Before she could think about retreating, she was being carried forward by her own ill-suited curiosity. She’d only have herself to blame if things went south. 

However, the further she got into the market, the less people seemed to notice her. She noticed everything, though. There were animals of all kinds– some she’d never seen before, the kinds that she felt as though she could only pull from nightmares, and books among books. It dawned on her then, that maybe this was a dream, too. Or that somehow in an attempt to find a way to get rid of her magic, she had stumbled upon the answer. 

“Miss, why don’t you come over here? Take a look at these rings. I can read your mind, you’re looking for something, aren’t you?” The voice caught Van by surprise, because a part of her felt as though it were in her head. She turned around to see the owner of said voice staring her down, a grin revealing a gap toothed smile. “Hello, how can I help you?” But it was a different voice, wasn’t it? Van paused at the stall, looking over the jewelry. 

It felt… off, in a way. Her anxiety flared as it always did, and she looked around them nervously. “Um, I don’t … think I can afford any of this, actually. I make pizza money.” 

—

Magic. Theodore Jones was magic. Had magic. Used it! Not demon magic, real, honest to goodness, human magic. The bright teal display was a shocking revelation. No doubts about it. Another caster confirmed. Immutable. What Teds didn't understand was how. Comparatively, the demonic rituals were so different they couldn't even properly judge one against the other. Weaving magic before felt like just that, weaving. Taking pieces that were already there, altering the existing fabric to suit their needs. It was a process, it often felt like hard labor. Like they were physically lifting and bending reality. A damn intense workout. 

But this? The explosion of feeling, the way it poured through their veins? Alight, electric. Teddy had tried to conjure it immediately after getting home. They kept trying old methods, old rituals, to some effect, but not always the ones they wanted. They needed insight. Needed a focus they couldn't quite muster for themself. So, of course, it was off to the markets. The bizarre bazaar. A home of several friends, a bunch of contacts, and more than a few people who hated Teddy and/or their father. 

A disguise was in order. 

Far more plain clothes than they would usually go for as well as an old silk scarf. Expertly donned to cover up most of their face and more importantly their scars. A pair of sunglasses too. Something Audrey Hepburn would have been proud of. Honestly not too out of place around the patrons of the market. The people here could appreciate discretion. 

Among mountains of miscellaneous magic materials and such, Teddy found themself particularly attracted to a set of gemstone earrings. Sapphire maybe? They weren't the master appraiser their father was, but they'd picked up a discerning eye over the years. Perks of a parentage in purchasing paranormal paraphernalia. Leviathan had pretty much any creature land or sea beat on that front, even optimistic underwater princesses with bright red hair and a concerningly close relationship to crabs and clams. 

The great beast’s ward was just about to pick out the simple charm and inquire when the owner started to speak up. Not at Teddy though, at– oh shit. The kid. From the park? What was her name again? Didn't matter half as much as the hungry look in the seller's eye, or the way Teddy knew this particular stall to take…esoteric payment rather than money. Maybe your ability to see the color purple. Maybe the memory of your first kiss. Things that were far more powerful than people realized, things they think they wouldn't miss until it was far too late. 

“Sis, you know your birthday is coming up.” Teddy strode over, throwing an arm around the younger girl's shoulder and hoping she'd recognize them. (The shop owner definitely did. Maybe they could use that to their advantage.) They hoped that she'd understand that poking around a place like this was dangerous in the same way screaming gossip in the park might've been. Maybe moreso. You could quite literally lose yourself amongst the market stalls. But losing composure was like the first step to falling in a den of hungry spiders. All ready to knit you into their webs, truss you up and eat you for dinner. 

“Why don't you let me get you something, kiddo. Save all that pizza money for more shrimps.” Van. That was her name. Same kid that was arguing with Emilio. Hilarious one. Ten outta ten style. “Sound good?” Please, Teddy thought as loud as they could, knowing the younger caster couldn't possibly hear, please go along with this. 

—

Van’s neck nearly fell off the bone with the swiftness in which she looked at her newly arrived company. She opened her mouth to tell her that he mistook her for somebody else, up until she recognized them. From the park– the gossip, the way the transmutation had melted into the ground, the look on their face as she ran away… 

She dropped her gaze down to her hands, knowing that if she looked the stall vendor in the eye, he’d be able to tell this was all a lie. She didn’t think she looked like him, but what did this person know? Family came in all shapes and sizes, right? Van nodded, “um, yeah– in a month.” She cleared her throat, gaze sliding over the number of trinkets that covered the table. Some were desirable, some not so much. 

He remembered the shrimps, from online. Teddy, Van remembered now. She’d seen them flaunting their ability to spin any conversation around on just about anyone who’d listen. Maybe they intended to do the same for the vendor. 

She nodded quickly, the crick in her neck absent as she finally dared to look at the vendor. “Different um… moms.” She gave him a nervous smile before tugging the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands, fists now balled up to keep the fabric in place. “Maybe we should look around a little more? There were like, a ton of stalls I haven’t looked at yet.” Most of which were far too… busy for her to think of looking over– tentacles, bottles of things with eyes. She was in the wrong place, this place wasn’t for her and she knew it. She worried her lower lip between her teeth before motioning Teddy to follow her. “Um, thank you.” Van whispered under her breath as they headed in the opposite direction. The last time they’d run into each other, she’d been so overwhelmed with what they’d shown her that now– with the shrimps in mind, all she could feel was gratitude. 

— 

Good. Good. She played along. Teddy’s heart relaxed just a little. Might not be the end of the world, but certainly a situation the kid didn't deserve to be put in. Not while she looked so lost. Both now, and back in that park. Van had a resilience to her, but if Teddy had to guess, it seemed like the kind you built around yourself by force. Out of necessity. They didn't know anything about her, not really. She worked at the pizza place, she was some kind of caster. And yet seeing magic was jarring and stressful for her. 

Maybe her introduction to the subject was traumatizing. They didn't know. Probably wouldn't learn either, not any time soon. Teddy was thankful for the upbringing they had. The way they could navigate a crazy place like the bizarre with relative ease. Leviathan had been an incredible teacher, and they were all too eager to soak in all they could. Just a shame that the way they had been taught didn't translate to their new type of magic. 

“Eh, no biggie. So what kind of things are ya looking for, for your birthday?” Teddy ushered the both of them farther from the booth, all while scanning for something they'd find useful or interesting. Even out of earshot, it was probably worth it to keep up the charade. What they wanted to ask was why she was here. Was there actually something she needed or was it an accident? 

—

“Oh! Uh… maybe… something shiny.” Her birthday was soon, but it wasn’t like she was trying to find something here for it. If anything, she’d go online and look up figurines of Kafka and whine over the prices. She stuck her hands into the pockets of her jacket and looked around, still taken aback by the sheer amount of oddities. How had she ended up here? Van glanced over her shoulder, immediately noticing that the vendor they’d just spoken to was now involved in what looked like a situational haggle with another customer. 

Van looked over at Teddy with a grateful smile laced with uncertainty. “I don’t know how I ended up here.” She forced herself to keep her gaze on the person ahead of her for the sake of not drawing too much attention to herself. Though, if anyone could read minds here, they’d know she was out of her depth. 

“I was just walking, and then…” She motioned around them, still too afraid to outstretch her hand too far as if something might jump from one of the tables and devour it. Van stuck her hand back into her pocket for safe keeping. “Do you come here a lot? The way you talked to that guy, it was like, super natural.” That was ironic, all things considered– everything about this was supernatural. “I don’t know if I’m like, supposed to be here.” 

—

Something shiny. Fair enough. Teddy themself was a connoisseur of all things glitz and glam.  When the mood struck at least. Even if it was part of the ruse, maybe they could find something for the kid before finding their exit. Having company on a shopping day was equal parts exciting and a little nerve wracking. Especially because Van didn't know about this place. As they had suspected. 

Around them, webs of people stretched far and wide. The further into the markets, the less folks would care for glamours, for appearing human. But here, on what could be considered the ‘main street’ the vendors were odd, sure, but only so much as ones you might find at a very eclectic art faire. It was the false sense of security that lured most victims in. Deals they couldn't quite keep up with, or things they didn't realize they'd miss so much. There were fortunes to be made too, if you knew where to look. 

“Ah, that kind of thing happens a lot. Places like this kind of find you. Usually when you need something from it, or well…” If it was hungry. Teds wasn't sure they wanted to ascribe sentience to the endless collection of shops and stores, but it did have a way of making you feel… watched. Desired, but in the way a coyote might look at an injured baby bunny. “This isn't the only market like this, but I think this one is sort of… local? To Wicked's Rest?” Teddy wasn't completely sure. Honestly if every version they'd ever been to with their father had been one massive sprawling liminal space that showed up out of nowhere, they wouldn't be surprised. They were always so fascinated by it when they were young. Still, they remembered the tight (metaphorical) leash the Leviathan kept on them. How hesitant it was to take them in the first place. Some of that worry must have passed down. Teddy couldn't help but feel it when they looked at the kid, when they thought of the darker sides of this place. 

“Come here as often as I need to. Try not to make a habit. There's actually some… really useful stuff around.” Ah, yes. Just a few booths away something piqued the ex-demon's interest. Teddy nodded their head towards the brightly colored tent, and towards the myriads of magical focuses housed inside. “Like these pretty babies.” 

—

“I don’t think I need anything from here.” In fact, wasn’t it the opposite? Van wanted so desperately to get rid of her magic– it didn’t serve her, and in its worst moments, only acted as a reminder of everything that’d gone wrong in her life. She wasn’t about to unload that on Teddy, though. She’d already freaked out on them once before, and if things went wrong here, there’d be a second time, too. Van felt herself bristle as eyes followed herself and Teddy as they continued down the pathway of the main vendors. Would they be able to tell? She looked at Teddy out of the corner of her eye, deciding that maybe not, considering the fact that she had no clue they’d been magically inclined upon meeting them. She thought about the markings in the ground, how they had burned with light. “Local? I’ve never even seen it before.” Wasn’t that sort of the point, though? If this place were out in the Common, she was sure there’d be articles day and night about the disruptive nature of its inhabitants. 

Useful stuff. Like what, Van wanted to ask– what could possibly be useful here and not harmful? Maybe Teddy loved their magic. Maybe they were secure in it– she couldn’t relate, and again, she had to remind herself that it wasn’t their problem. Her gaze followed the way in which they’d pointed and Van’s brows furrowed. “Did you just call those babies? What are you, Linda Belcher?” Actually, that sort of made sense the longer that she looked at them. “Forget I asked.” She cleared her throat and followed after them, knowing that her only way out might be by sticking to their side. She wasn’t sure why she’d found inherent trust in them, as it’d been the opposite that day when she’d been spilling lies all over the common, but she didn’t figure she had any other choice, not now at least. “What is this?” She asked, interest piqued at one of the items on a nearby table. It was a ring made of silver with a simple engraving on the side. Her mother’s voice rang through her head as she stared at it, don’t touch– just look. 

—

“Guess it’s the other thing then.” Teddy shrugged, not really showing the worry that sat just beneath their skin. Instinctively maybe, if they somehow even had instincts for this, they moved closer to Van. Hovering an arm behind her as their eyes found the proprietor of this stall. Making sure it was someone they could trust, or at least know they wouldn’t be getting fucked over by. Hard to say though, Teddy had seen the face once, but never met them. 

Instead, their attention returned to the kid, a half cocked grin sitting beneath their furrowed brows. “Okay first of all, I’m going to take that as a compliment. Linda is a goddess.” Teddy snorted, finding some real joy for the first time today. “And B. These are foci.” All sorts. Everything from enchanted jewelry to literal wands. Though, Leviathan always said those were a crock of hooey. It was better to have something you wore always. Something you could attune to, let it attune to you right back. 

“Essentially they’re… magic training wheels. Casters have been using these forever. I think it’s maybe where the idea of a wizard with a pointy stick or staff comes from. Funnily enough, they’re more for kids than grizzled old bearded men.” Teddy hadn’t thought about foci since they were a kid. When demon magic began to burgeon within them, when it wasn’t always something they could wield. Now they knew it was because the tether between them and their father was an open siphon. They had far too much access, needed the control. A valve. A focus. 

—

“Foci.” The word didn’t sit right on her tongue, mostly because she had no idea what it meant. Van thought about focaccia bread, but nothing here struck a resemblance. As they went on to explain, discomfort washed over Van. This was all too real, and even though she had since accepted that having magic was a part of her, it didn’t mean she was okay with it. It’d done more harm than good, and what was the point in having magic if she couldn’t end up the protagonist of her own story? Instead, she was some half-assed villain, written by an author to have the protagonist point and laugh at. 

“You mean those don’t actually exist? The blue hats with stars, or whatever…?” That was a bit of a disappointment, but the magic that she’d been exposed to– that ran through her like a second soul, it was nothing like what she’d seen in media. It was far more dangerous than that. It had killed people. 

“So this ring is like that? Instead of a wand?” She stepped closer, mildly interested in the way it glinted beneath the lighting of the tent. She stared at it for a long while before remembering she was in the company of somebody else– somebody who had far more knowledge than her. “I’m…” She cleared her throat, frustrated by her inability to just say things straight without fumbling over them. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here. Why’d you bring us into this one?”

— 

“Mhmm. Kinda like in D&D, that's a little closer I guess. Though it's pretty debatable. Maybe…. Think of it as a prism?” Teddy mused aloud, rolling over definitions and metaphors in their mind until they settled on a more effective means of explanation. “Or like… a sieve. Helps you hold back magic so too much doesn't get through. In doing so, it sorta teaches you what comes from where. How it feels inside, how it's supposed to feel. Makes it so you can learn how your magic works.” Satisfied, the flamboyant ex-demon nodded. Grinned. 

There was a gleam to her gaze that paused them though, made Teddy slow their roll and realize that maybe the way they'd told it, it sounded like Teddy was talking about it on her behalf. And while, sure, if she did have untapped, untrained magic the foci would be incredibly helpful. But they were– shoot. Better clarify. They didn't want the kid thinking that they were being talked down to. Especially with the training wheels comment. Nothing in the world could make a kid turn from help faster than some strange adult insisting they needed it. 

“I had a big change recently.” They admitted. Vague still, but mostly because you never really knew who was listening in. “My uh– source. Where my magic comes from. It's different than what it used to be. Majorly. I'm still getting used to it. Feels different. I can't control it yet. I came here because I could use one of these. Figured we could find the exit once I grabbed what I came for, right?” Teddy offered a somewhat self-deprecating smile and a shrug. “But hey, already said I'd get you a birthday gift. Ain't a liar, and– there's a lot of neat shit around, y’know?” 

— 

Van knew D&D. She could piece together what Teddy was trying to say about the objects ahead of them by translating them into the terms she’d heard crackled over a few dozen discord calls. It was easy, removing herself from the equation– pretending it was all fantastical. It was kind of fucked up, she thought, that for somebody who’d been so immersed in world building, the world around her was freaking her the fuck out. She could only think about what her friends in Portland would think if they could see her now. She stared at the silver ring she’d noticed first, tracing the etchings of flowers and ivy with her gaze. 

The way that Teddy described things, it made it make sense. Then again, she hadn’t really been seeking out many other magic users, at least, aside from Milo, and he had admitted that his own magic was on the fritz. “So it’s like a tamagotchi, only not, and like, helpful.” That was the best way she could wrap her mind around it, and maybe that’d go over Teddy’s head. Van listened to them as they went on to explain that they’d come into a different kind of magic– the kind that was hard to control. 

Her gaze snapped back up to meet theirs. “But you look like you have your shit together.” She wasn’t lying there. Well, except for the whole flirting with Emilio online thing, Teddy seemed like he was put together in the way that she thought most adults were. “I–” She looked back towards the ring, slightly drawn to it. She had no clue how much it was, and she couldn’t expect Teddy to pay for it, not when their only means of likeness was boiled down to the fact that they both had uncontrollable magic. “Do you melt things, too? Open portals?” She bit down onto the inside of her cheek, surprised by the way she’d asked the question so freely. Maybe she really was growing up. She looked back to them, tugging on their sleeve. “I don’t mean to like, be a super open book or whatever, but I’m like, afraid all of the time about what my magic can do, so you’re telling me this would help? Could it… get rid of it? Keep it away for good if I don’t take it off?” She felt a little bad about not consoling them over the way they’d undergone change, but her mind was at warp speeds– if there was a way to stifle her magic, then she needed to know. 

— 

Behind closed lips, Teddy’s tongue ran along the edges of their teeth. Counting each, feeling the far too blunt edges, missing the way they could reshape them into something else. Something they saw as better. Van was trying to change herself. Van had magic and was afraid of it. The sudden shock Ted’s magical awakening inspired wasn’t one of fear. It didn’t really dawn on them that it could be something someone would even be afraid of. Still, that didn’t mean they couldn’t hold compassion for the young adult. They could see the way it weighed on her. See how it hooked into her mind and dragged her to some aching past. Something she felt guilty about. 

Teddy could relate to that. 

They’d seen that look a thousand times, maybe more. On Emilio, on Wynne, Arden, Teagan. On themself. It wasn’t one that had ever been solved by cutting off a piece of themself. Wasn’t something that would get better if Van stopped being magical. 

“Mmmn. Not exactly a tamagotchi.” They had, in fact, gone to school in the 90’s. “That implies you’d have to take care of it in some way. If you got that ring, it would… stop the unexpected stuff. It’d also make anything you do intentionally a bit less powerful. If anything it’s like… training weights? Is Naruto still a thing you guys watch? Dragon Ball Z?” Sometimes the motels they stayed at only had a few channels. Teddy had spent many nights watching a bit too much toonami while Leviathan went off to do… Leviathan things.

“That’s the secret, Junebug. There’s no such thing as someone who ‘has it all together’, if they tell you they do, they’re lying, or they want to sell you something.” With a small motion, the ex-demon caught the attention of the shopkeeper. Speaking in a language it was highly unlikely the younger woman would understand. Teddy got lucky.  Once they heard his voice, they realized quickly that they knew  the old man. A client of Levi’s. One the great beast had left with more favors owed to it than it owed to him. The conversation was short, to the point, and actually pretty pleasant. Teddy didn’t have to haggle much, only had to retrieve something from storage on a different day. Easy peasy. The demon running the booth even threw in some extras. 

Teddy picked up the ring she’d been eying, placed it carefully in her palm then turned back to pick out the piece they’d been drawn to, a woven braided bracelet whose fibers seemed to be spun from pure gold. Simple in design, but beautiful in its own right. The ‘extras’ of course, were tidbits of gossip for Gabagool. With the gift exchanged, Teddy didn’t wait for an answer, or a thank you or anything like that. There would be plenty of time to talk without prying eyes and ears. They simply grinned, and guided the younger caster through the mess of the market and out onto familiar streets. Downtown. In front of an old tea shop and a newer pizza place. 

“There… are ways.” Teddy admitted, after a long silent walk. “You can get rid of it. But– It’s never–. Magic is a part of you. Good or bad. Taking it away would leave you empty. Worse than empty.” They swallowed, remembering the hollow they found themself in the night of the ritual. How they felt worse than death. “I don’t know your story. Don’t know how magic fucked shit up for you, but I do know that any magic can be used for good, if you accept it and learn to control it. Hell, even demons can be good guys.” 

—

Van blinked at Teddy, surprised they knew what both Naruto and Dragon Ball Z were. She was half-tempted to tell them that they were way too cool to be dating Emilio, but figured that wouldn’t win her any favors. Her issue with Emilio had nothing to do with Teddy and she had to accept that her maybe-magic-mentor would be linked to the stinky man himself. Not only that, but her two best friends were also linked to him. That was the funny thing about being linked to people– you were always linked to the bad ones, too. Though, she couldn’t completely see Emilio as bad. Just… really annoying! 

But Teddy wasn’t annoying. He was nice, respectful, and kind. Most of all, that was what Van saw most. Despite her freak out a couple of months ago and the way she held onto the notion that magic was bad, they continued to explain it to her in a way that would make her understand. Teddy reminded her a little bit of Jade. “I think… I see what you’re saying,” Van said finally, throat dry. 

She wanted to believe in what Teddy had to say, if not for herself, then for the sake of people she might be able to save from being inflicted with her magic. Van’s expression twisted at the junebug nickname, but she didn’t try to sway from it. Instead, she ogled as Teddy motioned for the shopkeeper to come over. The weight of the ring in her palm felt far heavier than what it was made up of in actuality. It held the determination Teddy held, she realized. She stared down at it, suddenly feeling very small. “You really– I don’t know how I’m going to pay you back for this.” Van was almost too afraid to put it on, and because of that, she stuffed it into her pocket. Would this ring really save her from herself?

As they walked, she listened– forced to see the world through their point of view. It was important for her to do so, or else she might die for the cause of losing everything. Van inhaled sharply. “That’s… what I’ve heard, but I still…” She shrugged, “feel like it’s better that way, to feel empty than to accidentally hurt somebody.” She stuck her hand into her pocket and rotated the ring around. Her gaze cut to Teddy as they explained even demons could be good guys. What did Teddy know of demons? Maybe that was a story for another time, because she hadn’t realized they’d effectively walked out of the market. She whirled around, surprised by the normalcy that surrounded them. “What– when did–” She looked over at them, wide-eyed. “This place is like, so weird.” She’d been living here all her life, and still, it never got any easier– especially now that she’d opened her eyes to it all. “Teddy, I… thank you, for this.” She motioned towards her pocket, “and for the talk and stuff.” She gave them a small smile of appreciation, an awkward air falling over her. Maybe it was easier to pretend she’d absorbed everything they had said; make them less likely to worry. The less people who worried, the better. 

—

“Hey, no need to pay me back. Just… pay it forward. If you see a chance to help someone, take it, y’know?” One thing Teddy had always been bad at was actually seeking reprisal for… anything. Whims dictated their every move, some had rationalization, but if they were being honest most of that came after. Justification found between the crumbs of forethought that managed to sneak in before impulse had its way with the ex-demon. 

Demons were supposed to collect on deals, weren't they? Maybe that's why they never really cut it. Even before the eldritch energy was stripped from every fiber of their being, they had never really grafted onto it in the way they probably should have. It took…more effort than they'd like to admit to shake away the idea that the deficiency was somehow one of the reasons Leviathan left. Even the fleeting thought tugged on the scars. Filled their chest with a dull ache that had Teddy looking off in the distance, as if they'd somehow catch a glimpse of the great beast around some corner. 

“Whole world is a little weird, but it does seem a little extra… concentrated here.” They shrugged, the oddness had been one of their favorite things about this town. Always something to capture their wonder, their attention. Maybe in time, Van could learn to see it that way too. Maybe not. Only time would tell, and that ring would definitely buy her a little more than she might have had before. 

“You're cool, kid. No worries, okay? If you have more trouble or questions…I think you know where to find me online.” Teddy remembered her messaging, trying to get the scoop on their very embarrassing but thankfully well received crush on the detective. “Ciao.” With little more than a flourish of their hand, Teddy smiled, turned, and disappeared down the street, heading off to who knows where. 

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I did stand-up comedy for the first time last night. It went much better than I expected, though keep in mind that I have severe anxiety and I expected it to be a colossal catastrophe that would leave me never able to face anyone involved in comedy in this city again. Here is the story of how that happened - a story that will not really be interesting to anyone who isn't me or invested in my interest in trying comedy, but I'm recording it for posterity anyway.

Okay, okay. So here’s what happened. I was at my parents’ place with my brother, and he mentioned having a show that night (he’s a comedian), and I decided on fairly short notice to go with him. The show was free, it’s a pub that runs comedy on Monday nights. My brother was performing, as were a bunch of other comedians of varying levels of experience. Some were good. Some were not so good. My brother was good. Can’t complain about free comedy in a pub.

I’d not been to that comedy night before; I’ve been to another nearby pub that does a similar thing, but not to this one. I have, however, been to that bar before. It’s a great bar. The only gay bar in the city that’s also the kind of bar I like, which is a pub where you can just sit down and drink a beer. All other gay bars around here are taken over by dance floors. And more than that, it’s the kind of pub I like. By which I mean it’s in a basement and dimly lit and not too big and not too fancy and the sort of people who go there are cool. Honestly, it’s weird that I haven’t been to their comedy night before. (For the record, it’s not a queer-themed comedy night or anything, just a regular comedy night hosted by a gay bar.)

These pub nights have about six or seven comedians who do about eight minutes each, plus the host and a headliner who does a bit longer. You get an actual spot on the bill by contacting the owners and requesting one, and they give out spots based on various criteria, obviously trying to book the best comedians they can. However, each week they also reserve one spot as the “lotto”. Where anyone not on the bill (literally anyone, it turns out, no credentials necessary) who wants to perform can put their name in a pitcher, and when they get to that spot, they draw a name and that person can perform. Apparently it’s common for comedians to show up to these nights just to put their name in the lotto, getting it once in a while to build up their stage time.

My brother and I got there a bit before the show started, and we sat at the bar. He told me I should put my name in the lotto. I hadn’t planned on that at all. A while ago I wrote about seven minutes worth of stuff, and have thought I want to try it somewhere sometime, but hadn’t made concrete plans. I’ve said it out loud in my bedroom a few times. I’ve recorded myself saying it to see how long it takes and how it sounds, and then tried listening back and cringed so hard from hearing my own voice that I had to turn it off after a couple of seconds. I’ve told all this to my brother, and he’s encouraged me to try to book an open spot and get started. I’ve been saying I’ll do it at some point, but had made no specific plans until I sat there at the bar with my brother before the show.

“You just have to try,” he said. “Let me put your name in the lotto.” I told him to go talk to the comedians and find out how many names were in the pitcher already. He came back and said only one, and there are usually more names than that, but in this case it would mean a 50/50 shot. I asked him if it’ll remain 50/50 by the time the lotto spot actually comes up (they go at the end, right before the headliner), and he said probably not, probably lots more comedians will walk in and add their names, and my chances of getting picked will be low. But just putting it in there is a step worth taking. I said yeah, okay, put my name in so I can call it a step.

He was right – throughout the night, lots more people walked in and put their names in the pitcher. Enough so I became pretty sure I wouldn’t get picked, and I tried to just enjoy the night. My brother did his spot, he was good. So were a few of the others.

When the lotto spot came up, my brother started filming on his phone while the host introduced the draw. He was filming it with the idea that he’d then have a video of my first comedy performance, including the introduction. I whispered to him not to bother, I won’t get picked so he’s just filming a lotto draw for no reason. He told me I need to be ready for them to call my name. I said they’re not going to, look how many names are in there. We were still arguing when the host called my name.

Now that I think of it, I’m not 100% sure they really did draw my name. The host is a friend of my brother’s, and it was my brother who put my name in, so he’d have told the comedians that that name is his sister’s. It is possible that the host just wanted to see what his friend’s sister was going to do, so he called my name regardless of what actually got drawn. Or maybe he really did pick mine. I don’t know. My brother did tell me that the comedians, who spent most of the show sitting together in the little area behind the stage and not paying too much attention to the comedy, stopped talking among themselves while I was performing, and stood by the stage to watch me (I didn't notice this since it was behind me). Apparently, he said, they were all curious to see what his sister was like.

So… then I did comedy. I went up there. Put my phone down on the stool beside me. Hit play on the stopwatch app right before I started talking, so I could keep track of how much time I’d done. That’s how I know I did 5 minutes and 45 seconds. I think switching to the clock app is also how I accidentally turned off my voice recorder app, which is annoying because I’d tried to use that to record my own set, but when I finished I realized the app had been closed and it hadn’t recorded. Which means I now am, in fact, glad that my brother filmed it for me (actually filmed it, while I was trying to just record the audio with my own phone). He’s supposed to send me the video later today.

I will say, it wasn’t as scary as I’d expected. Mainly because I’d expected it to be unimaginably terrifying. Once I was actually up there, and realized it could not live up to the fear, I calmed right down. I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I’d thought I’d be.

It helps that it was the best possible circumstances. It wasn’t a gay comedy night, but it was a gay bar, the crowd was pretty friendly and cool. The crowd was also small, even for a pub night. And the first thing I did was tell them I’ve not done this before, and I definitely got some extra generosity and goodwill out of the audience for that. So I can’t really say stand-up comedy isn’t terrifying. It isn’t terrifying if you do it under those best possible circumstances. Few things are terrifying under the best possible circumstances.

In all the time I’d spent thinking about doing this, I’d told myself I need to expect that on the first time, I will be absolute shit and they won’t laugh at all. If I get a single laugh in six minutes, I need to see that as a victory. I need to be prepared for no laughs at all, because if I’m not prepared for it, then I’ll be disappointed when I get up there and do get no laughs at all. Because I’ve never done it before, even proper comedians don’t do great on their first time with untested material, and I am far from a proper comedian. Have no expectations, I told myself.

But that didn’t happen! I’m not saying, you know, “I killed it”. They didn’t laugh constantly or anything. And I know they were being a bit overly generous because I was new. But still, they laughed multiple times. And that is so much better than I had prepared myself to expect. It was fucking cool!

I’d typed my whole set up word for word, and when I’ve recorded it in my bedroom, I’ve read it off my laptop screen. Obviously I knew it wouldn’t work that way on stage. I’d memorized the essence of the jokes, but hadn’t memorized it word for word, and knew that when I was up there, I’d just have to hope I could remember most of the wording but also know it’s going to be looser and not sound exactly like what I’d prepared. However, I ended up deviating from the script even more than I’d expected. I pretty much followed the audience. When they laughed at something, I doubled down and expanded on that, even if I hadn’t planned to do so beforehand.

Also, the set I actually did was only a bit of my original script. The set I wrote on my laptop, which takes about seven minutes when I say it to myself, is one I knew I wouldn’t do all of on stage. I knew my first spot would be five or six minutes, and something that takes seven minutes in my bedroom will take much longer on stage (building in pauses and stuff), so the idea wasn’t to say the whole thing. The idea was to have more written than I was going to say, so that I had room to make some cuts, and take the best parts of it for the actual set.

As it happened, I made a lot of cuts. Almost all of it was cut, actually. I ended up spending the entire five minutes and forty-fives seconds on pretty much one bit. One bit that had multiple parts to it so I could drag it out for that long, but it was all on the same topic. And I now have to thank my Tumblr comedy friend @my-excellent-bicycle for that. Because I sent them a recording of my set a while ago, and they told me they laughed specifically at one bit. That feedback was very helpful, as it made me decide to spend my entire set on that one bit when I actually got on stage. I expanded it a fair bit, and like I said, pretty much just stayed on stuff when it made the audience laugh.

I’m not saying I was amazing (I definitely dragged it out too much, could have cut some stuff and moved the punchlines closer together and made that shorter and have time for another bit, to be honest I was intentionally going into too much detail on that one topic so I wouldn’t have to do a second topic, since I was only really confident in that one), but it was pretty well the best a first try at that could go. Afterward, a bunch of comedians and non-comedians came up and told me I did well. Which I realize is just the decent thing to do, but at least one of them must have meant it, because he gave me details for an open mic night he runs elsewhere, and asked me to show up and do that set again there. That guy happened to be a comedian I’ve seen before and find really funny, but I’d never spoken to him before, so that was fucking cool.

And then I stayed, for about 90 minutes after the whole show ended, hanging out at the bar with my brother and some other comedians. It was so much fun. I realized it’s been a long time since I’ve done that. Just spent a night at a pub hanging out with people. Met people. Talked to people. Talked to comedians who told me the set I’d just done was good for a first time, so obviously, that was incredibly fucking cool. But even if you took that away, even if they weren’t cool comedians and I wasn’t super excited because I’d just performed, that would still have been fun. Just hanging out at a bar talking to people I liked. Did not at any point in the night get taken out of the moment by the feeling of “these friendships have all changed irrevocably and I barely know these people anymore” – which is what tends to happen on the few times I’ve tried to have a night out with my friends in the last year or so. There was none of that last night. It was just fun.

I met one drunk guy who's into some British comedy and we talked about the Simon Amstell/Noel Fielding "motorbike made of jealousy" Buzzcocks incident for about ten minutes. I told him to watch Grandma's House. If he actually manages to remember that advice today and follows it, that'll be by far the best thing I did for anyone last night.

So that's my story of the first time I tried stand-up comedy. I'm hoping the modifying word "first" will be necessary in that sentence, I definitely want to take that guy up on his offer to do his open mic thing. My life is falling apart a bit, but that one thing is fucking cool. My advice to anyone interested in trying stand-up comedy is, I guess, have a sibling who's been doing it for thirteen years and therefore knows the local scene very well and can guide you into it, get lucky with having your name drawn in a lottery (or possibly just with your brother having friends who want to see you perform so they'll call your name anyway), and then try performing under the best possible circumstances to a small and very friendly and generous crowd. Try that, that's what worked for me.

[kapi-tanka]

If you don't do commissions what artistic work you do? I want to get an art related job too but I don't really know how and where to start :(

oh well. i'm sorry but honestly i don't think i can help much since my experience is very specific to russian-speaking communities plus i'm very lucky in terms of upbringing. my mom's an editor and my dad worked as a designer for a long time. they passively taught me a lot of stuff and kind of presented me to my first clients back in the day, plus i've always had to do small things for their own projects too. at this point i just know a bunch of other editors, authors and designers who recommend me to people they know. sometimes new people find my behance portfolio and contact me. i also read a bunch of chats/pages where people post art/design vacancies. but connections were my bread and butter the whole time. i don't even have an art degree, only word of mouth and skill and uhh i also can't say i recommend my field?? i mostly do vector stuff and, to put it lightly, it's boring. the most fun stuff i did was children's book illustration/children's and pedagogical periodics but i feel like it's an overpopulated field in russia and they rarely pay well my current job is okay, though it's very tech and business oriented. their current theme is autopiloted aircrafts lmao. very fun objects to draw, you have no idea, anon. the "best" part is that i have to understand the principles of all the stuff i draw about to depict them properly and to convey the basic concept behind them. i'm not an expert by all means but somehow i end up working on such projects (the worst time was when i had to make infographics on nanotubes and carbon, etc., it was very stressful and scientists weren't great at explaining stuff to dumbasses regular people like me lol). but in my experience this field isn't as crowded as children's illustration since not as many artists want to draw shit like. geodesic drones. i've also had my fair share of corporate vector art. was relatively easy for me (i'm good at adjusting to company artstyles and i like drawing people) but it didn't feel right (imagine drawing APPEALING and ENGAGING pictures on taxes in singapore plus you're an anti-capitalist plus everybody in art community hates how it looks and you just kinda have an existential crisis every single time you draw a smiling dude in a suit)

so yeah. i do lots of labor i don't really enjoy/want to do and i kinda got used to it by adding stuff i find appealing to my work illustrations (such as people, interesting compositions, fun details), BUT i hope you'll find something that suits you personally and something that will bring you joy. good luck!!! (my work doesn't suck 24/7 though, i just tried not to sugar-coat it)

[sunshine-zenith]

For context, I work in healthcare

Due to Reasons, there was a small but very much identifiable puddle of blood on the sidewalk/street outside my clinic, and I and my coworker had no idea if this was an Our Problem thing or a Not Our Problem thing. It didn’t feel right just leaving it — on one hand, we’re in a city in an interesting location, and those streets have absolutely seen many a biohazard in its days. Plus it’s actually not the most noticeable thing in the world, being mostly on the street/edge of the sidewalk. On the other, I feel like if someone needs medical help, they’re probably very stressed out and if they happen to look in the wrong direction and see blood outside the medical building it probably won’t help that stress, ya know? So we turn to the slack chat our coworkers are in

We see one of the trainers who has been there forever start typing — she’s written literal rule books for us to follow and knows a bunch of Big Important Secret Laws off the top of her head, so we get excited. Her reply? “I think that is a question for facilities!” Exclamation mark and all. Who is facilities? Fuck if I know, thanks for the help. After this, I get a bunch of messages from my coworkers that are telling us to look for an “emergency spill kit” (sounds cool, but we couldn’t find it because of course it wouldn’t be there when we actually need it), to contact facilities (who and how???), or saying they have no idea if that’s even our job but like. Yeah that’s not a great look. Again, lotta exclamation points in the chat

My coworker finds facilities but since she was actually a float, she couldn’t submit a ticket with them. I try to refollow the steps she took and I think I submit the ticket successfully but I’m not sure. I’m seeing a screen marking my submission as High Priority (Biohazard), and I see there are at least five unfamiliar names looking at it, but I receive no confirmation or notification or word or anything

The puddle of blood, which is still very much liquid at this time, has been out there for like half an hour at this point

At this point, I decide just throw on some gloves, grab one of our chux pads, and at least soak it up a little. My coworker is realizing she’s not the biggest fan of the sight of blood. We still have no idea if this is even an Our Problem thing.

Dear reader, to truly appreciate the visual of this next part you need to understand that a “chux pad” is one of those blue and white puppy pee pads.

As I am out there in the street, wearing my work scrubs and jacket, holding a puppy pee pad to the concrete that is rabidly turning red, someone chooses this moment to walk down the street. I try to ignore them. According to my coworker, who is watching this from the clinic window, this poor soul is very much not ignoring me. They start walking faster and even swerve their steps to give me a very wide berth. They were reportedly giving me major side eye

We, naturally, tell all our coworkers in the slack chat. Everyone laughs at us Because Healthcare Workers

At this point, the Identifiable Blood Pool could pass for a ketchup stain or something. From now on if I see a possible ketchup stain on the sidewalk, I Will Have Doubts. Whatever, good enough

Aaaaand then it starts raining. Not hard but it’s definitely heavy. It last for like fifteen minutes but by the time it’s done, the “ketchup stain” is gone. Guess we wasted that chux pad, but what can ya do

We move on, the slack chat makes memes about the whole situation, all is well. We forget about it because we have patients and labs and such. Several hours later, right before I clock out, what do I get in my email? A short message from facilities telling me that any and all blood outside the building is in fact a Not Our Problem thing and to just not worry about it.

Neat.

[always-music0]

Run Rabbit Run

Hannah would considers herself the unluckiest girl in the world,having being born into a tangled web of murderers and monsters that live in your closet and under your bed. Until one day an unforeseen issue makes its way into her already fucked life and now if she thought her life sucked it’s about to get a whole lot worse.

Pt.3

A Creepypasta/Twilight crossover 18+

Bella was super fucking nice..

She showed me to the office and we coincidentally had the same schedule so we walked to every class together, she even took the heat from the nerdy Asian dude who tried to touch me.

Although I had steered her away from the people I was 99% sure were vampires, but to give them the benefit of the doubt they didn’t smell like human blood which was odd to say the least.

At lunch she pulled me to sit with a bunch of weirdos the Asian dude introduced us too. As they all chatted away I opened my lunch made by the twitchy fuck. A little note with serial killer hand writing laid neatly on top of the paper bag

‘Have a good first day I’m watching you :)’

I lifted my head to the window overlooking the forest that backed up the school and lo and behold up in a tree with his own fucking packed lunch was Toby twitching away.

I sighed and pulled out the sandwich he made me and took a bite as he waved at me. I lifted my hand unenthusiastically in response

“Who are you waving to?” Bella asked and I flinched

“What? I’m just stretching my arm” I said extending my arm up and over her shoulders she laughed and shrugged my arm off and I smiled as I listened to their conversation

All of a sudden the air seemed to shift as the group of wannabe vampires walked in

“Who are they?” Bella asked and I perked up to what one of the girls at the table had to say about them.

“They’re the Cullens..” she started, and honestly went on for ages about how attractive, weird and not that good with people… honestly about the same as my three dipshits, Bella seemed to be intrigued with the last one Edward but to be fair he was pretty looking definitely not my type though.

After a little while longer and Bella stealing glances at the Cullens the bell rang singling the end of lunch. As me and Bella walked towards out next class I realized something.

“Did you see them eat?” I asked and Bella looked confused

“What?” She asked and I frowned the pit in my stomach growing larger

“They don’t take a single bite of their food…” I trailed off as we passed two of them in the hallway.

“Maybe they weren’t hungry” Bella said walking past me and I gulped as I made eye contact with the big one

“Yeah maybe..” I scurried past them pulling Bella along

“Common we’re gonna be late.” I said pulling her arm towards our next class.

A few classes later we arrived in biology be escorted by one of Bella’s new pals,And to my utter horror there sat Edward Cullen at a table alone I scanned the room for any other empty seats and couldn’t find any obvious ones. We walked up to the teacher and he smiled

“New Students! I hope you both can keep up well, this being the middle of the year and all..” he said and handed us some books and papers

“Uhh Bella you can take a seat next to mike and Hannah… sense this is your first time according to your transcript in AP biology 3 I’m gonna have you sit next to…” Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it done day it..

“Edwards, he can sorta show you the ropes”

Fuck.

“With all due respect sir I have been in numerous AP bio classes even some collage courses I’m sure I will be fine sitting somewhere else” I tried to deflect as my hair stood on end. He was watching me

“Oh well even so if you have any questions Edward is more than capable of answering them.” He said and shooed us to take out seats.

Great just fucking great.

I slowly walked over to where he sat, he reeked of animal blood and I tried not to scrunch my nose.

He looked up at me as I sat down.

“Hello, I’m Edward..” he said politely but his voice almost sounded strained.

I nodded and sat down

Setting my stuff out and taking out my notepad and pens

“You’re Hannah right?” He asked and I nodded again I could feel the strength radiating off of him and his blood lust almost rivaled a certain painter I knew

“Yeah..” I said and turned my attention to my notebook and book

Ask the class continued I took notes but kept my guard up and paid close attention the the thing sitting next to me and as the class went on he became more and more uncomfortable looking, he keep looking at Bella and then me and then Bella and then me and I hated the way his eyes darkened.

I looked at the clock it was a minute until the bell would ring. He shot up right as it rang and bolted out the door.

I looked over at Bella and she looked confused, I tried not to let my relief show on my face that he was gone.

I walked up to Bella

“What’s his deal?” She asked and I shrugged

“I have no clue” I lied as we walked out the door and to the office as we reached the main office I felt the buzz of my phone and stoped

“You go ahead I’ll be right there” I said and pulled out my phone, Bella nodded and walked in as I opened my phone

It was a text from Tim.

‘Need your help will pick you up soon’

I sighed I never liked helping Tim

As I put my phone away and turned to walk into the office I was almost ran over by the thing I was trying to avoid the most

Edward.

“Woah” I said and he glared down at me,

I glared back up at him make sure to try and convey as much distrust as I could

He went to go walk away and I cleared my throat, he turned and looked at me again

“Do yourself a favor.” I said and he tilted his head I took a breath and continued

“Stay away from me and stay away from Bella” I finished and walked into the office, I looked back through the glass in the door and saw him staring at me with a confused and concerned look I nodded at him and he quickly walked off.

Bella was still talking to the office lady when I got there and she quickly got me up to speed.

After finishing up some paperwork my phone buzzed once again

‘Be out front in 5’ it read and i huffed

“Everything ok?” Bella asked and I nodded

“Uh yeah my ride is almost here and he gets kinda prissy when he has to wait” I shuddered just thinking of Tim walking in here to come collect me

“Oh well maybe we could ride together some days…” she offered and I smiled at her. It was a nice thought to have friends who would bring me to school and hang out after school or something but I knew that couldn’t happen

“Yeah maybe, but my… guardians?” They definitely weren’t like brothers or best friends or anything really, they had a two jobs. Go wherever boss told them to go and watch over me they weren’t really ones to do something for the benefit of others “are kinda overprotective..” I said and she nodded

“Well If you ever need a ride let me know” she said and I smiled.

“I will” I said as we walked out of the school and into the foggy air right on cue Tim pulled up on his motorcycle and I winced ‘he couldn’t fix the truck and he’s probably in a bad moon’ I thought and trotted down the statues towards him Bella went to follow me and I turned

“Hey Umm my people are kinda interesting…, and I know for a fact he’s in a bad mood… maybe just stay up here until I leave” I said and she tilted her head confused

“Ok?” She agreed unsure

“Great thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow” I said and started jogging down the stairs

Tim had already been watching me

“Who’s that?” He asked as he handed me a helmet when I had got down there

“She showed me around school today I don’t know” I said putting it on

“You don’t know? He sighed and I shrugged

“I didn’t care enough” I said climbing on

“Hmm if you say so…” he said slowly he kicked the kickstand up

“Hold on” he said and I wrapped my arms around him he kicked off and rode out of the parking lot and into the street.

A/N: Part three bay-bee! I’m having a lot of fun putting thease together and I hope those of you who find this weird fic are enjoying it as much as me! And again thank you always for reading it really makes me happy to make stories out of the scenarios I come up with. As always have a great day/night and life!!

[razrgrl]

Updates

First there's the book auction. Everyone wanted to know how it went. We think it was OK. The auctioneer that Cici works for was pleased. Cici was disappointed that some of the books didn't go for more... particularly that WW1 diary.

It was just such a special thing.

She had hoped it would go to the family, but they were outbid by someone else. We assume it is a dealer or wealthy collector because that same person bought about a third of the lots in the auction.

There was another auction yesterday (in-house/online hybrid) that Cici needed to help with so today starts the great "shipping out of the books" adventure. That promises to take up most of this week.

I'll post a picture of that when she gets back into the auction house.

Was it a success? Yes. Was it a blowout that will be talked about for the ages? No. Was it a fantastic opportunity to learn how much work goes into these things? Absolutely. Will she continue to do these? Yes. She thinks she'd like to see this through a little longer.

And next time she'll have a more balanced set of expectations.

Auctions are exciting because they are hard to predict. There is always the opportunity for a group of people to decide that they must have an item and it goes for more than it should -- possibly way more. It is more likely, however, that you are dealing with professionals who have to make sure that what they buy goes for a price that allows them to resell it with a decent profit margin.

At the in-house auction yesterday, she met a friend/regular customer of the auction house who deals in art and other high end antiquities. She wanted to find someone to do research on some of her items. They exchanged contact info. If she calls, this woman will be Cici's third research client.

School starts next week. It should be interesting to see how this all works out.

On a related note (because I can't let a post go by without talking about a pet), I took Gus to the end of the in-house auction. There wasn't a big crowd (because it was a pretty expensive auction and this is a cheap town) and most of the bidders were doing so through the web site.

It's the first time our nervous boy has had to sit for any length of time in a space with a lot of other people. I picked this because we take him to the auction house all the time (the owners have a nice bunch of dogs and we're socializing Gus to them) so Gus would have some familiar smells and voices (the auctioneer) to deal with.

This is Gus looking out from under the metal chair to where Cici was up on the auctioneer's dais. Cici took the photo. That's my blue-jeaned leg.

He did well. He was definitely nervous, but he was curious and polite to people. He accepted pets from someone in the next row.

We celebrate small steps with Gus. He is doing amazingly well since we first picked him up last January. At that point, I couldn't train him because he was just too terrified of everything to learn. Now he is learning words. He gets super excited to get in the car. He hides behind me when people come up to say "hi," but he'll come out eventually. He loves the back yard now that I've fenced it in for him and bounces happily around like a 1-year-old border collie is supposed to.

We've still got a long road ahead with Gus, but he is healing.

[phazius]

Outlaws of Alkenstar - Book 3 The Smoking Gun - Session 1

Oops trying not to get to behind on these. Wednesday was the holiday return of the IRL game down at the FLGS and we started with beginning book 3 of Outlaws of Alkenstar, probably my favorite of the 3.

After a bit of downtime to give the PCs some time to catch up on gear, they were contacted by Dunsmith about their next briefing where they also met with the Grand Dutchess of Alkenstar who to their surprise was pretty chill about the their unhinged outlaw activities and offered to forgive their crimes, real or framed, as part of payment of working for her. The Job is to track down Loveless and the people she sold the Pyronite fomula to, but shes gone into hiding. So to find information about what Loveless is up to the party is directed to highjack/sneak aboard, armoured carriage delivery thats headed toward the Shield Marshals hidden vaults.

Getting aboard the carriage goes surprisingly smoothly with everyone making their stealth checks and double crit successes to pick the lock on the carriage to slip inside. It travels for a bit before coming to a warehouse with a secret elevator that goes down to the hidden vault. After waiting for the Marshals that were on the carriage to leave, they slipped over to the vault branch offices ran by Loveless and started rummaging, finding a trio of clues. An invitation to a rich art gala by a private funder tomorrow, a news paper clipping about a hanging of a riverboat merchant scheduled the day after, and a cattle rustler whom the marshals havent been able to track down but is somehow related to the riverboat merchant. Just as they were wrapping up searching for clues a group approached the office vault with half the PCs standing watch outside with the other half still inside, the group wasn’t shield marshals though but a group of thugs that had been hired to destroy any evidence, 4 dwarves in suits and bowler hats roll up mafia style lol. The PCs standing watch outside manage to lie their way out, and the PCs inside manage to stealth out while the thugs gather everything up in the office and proceed to smash it then set it on fire.

With a timeline of events to look into the PCs clean up and get disguised for visiting that art Gala. It takes place in the richest part of the city at the top of a skyscraper which impressively has basic electricity so they get a powered elevator ride up. Its a very rich affair and a lot of the art pieces are gun focused like the weird rich gun nuts they are. The Bard, the only actual criminal in the party gets the brilliant idea to try and sell the guess Novel Firearm Tokens, receipts of a picture of a gun they supposedly bought (yes this is exactly the joke you think it is, we all died laughing). Not long after arriving at the Gala the head of security, a cyclops gunslinger is a suit whos in charge of the thugs the PCs say earlier tries to get the PCs to the the center of attention for a bit so the security detail can slip out the person the the PCs are looking for. This backfires a smidge as only half the PCs falls for the attention grab while the others slip away from the spotlight and notice security trying to get her out of the room. She is reluctant to leave her own party and the PCs not being focused on track her down and slowly start a conversation with her to get her away from security. They learn that shes purchased enough guns for a private armor for Loveless, wants to make Alkenstar not just a great city but a great nation, supports conscription for a standing army 😬😬😬😬😬, and that she isnt a fan of Loveless’ wizard compatriots. The PCs ride out the rest of the Gala not waiting to be rude to their ‘lovely’ host. As they’re leaving in the elevator it stops 1 for down and a bunch of security gets in... the elevator goes down a few more floors before they all draw guns. Its time for the most cramped fight I will ever run as the scene mimics the elevator fight from captain america lmao.

[subtile-jagden]

Stefan George Part 1

I also recently finished this Stefan George biography. This post isn't so much a book review as an introduction to this insane man (I mean this in both a good and a bad way). It will be 2 or 3 parts as there is A LOT to say about him. This post is for fun and more about Georges private life than his works. He was a great poet though, you should check him out.

Stefan George (1868 - 1933) was a German poet and borderline cult leader. He had a very high opinion of himself (maybe justified?) and basically thought while he was still a teenager that current poetry is shit and he can do better. He spent all his time writing poems and plays and tried to get others to read them. He made connections in France and while some people there in a small circle of artists liked his work he stayed relatively unknown. This didn't stop him from claiming he is a sought out poet in France upon his return to Germany. He went around publishers and tried to get them to print his poems. After that failed he published them himself. Selling like 2 books total. You can say many things about George but the boy was dedicated and never stopped working to achieve his dreams.

He moved to Vienna for a time in his early 20s where he met the then 17-year-old Hugo von Hofmannsthal in a cafè. Hofmannsthal was a very popular playwrite later in his career, during his first encounter with George he was still a student who wrote a bit for fun. George, who by all accounts was at least bisexual more likely homosexual, fell in love. But he was kind of a creepy fellow, practically stalking young Hugo and let me tell you, while Hofmannsthal admired George and his talent, he did not reciprocate. Things escalated when George made unwanted advanced on Hofmannsthal who told his father who then told George to leave his son in peace. George and Hofmannsthal would keep contact for decades after this failed courting, with Hofmannsthal writing poems and articles for Georges publications but there was always a certain tension between them.

Hofmannsthal was the first of a long list of young men that George took a liking to. He strived to be a role model and wanted to inspire a generation of youth. In practice he did what the kids nowadays call grooming. He pursued young boys and wanted to mould them to an adult of his liking. He was basically the stranger danger we were warned about as kids. He would just speak to boys he liked on the street, follow them to find out where they live and where they go to school and would then convince their parents that he would be a fantastic mentor. He the great poet and thinker! He was very charismatic and soon had a harem of boys/men around him who worshipped him.

While living in Munich he entertained the "George-Kreis" and was also closely connected to the "Kosmiker". Notable members: Karl Wolfskehl, Ludwig Klages, Alfred Schuler. A group of free spirits with very interesting ideas that warrant its own post.

In Munich he met Maximilian Kronberger, a boy of 14 who George thought is a prophet. Kronberger was an aspiring poet himself and felt honoured that George is interested in him. When Kronberger died unexpectedly George and his circle elevated him to a god-like level, creating the "Maximin-Myth". Basically a bunch of by then grown up men worshipped a dead 16 year old.

That's all for now but Part 2 will come soon. So stay tuned for Georges wacky adventures.