#this was so fun to do with you Shery!!

[shepherds-of-haven]

please i need to know--how would the shepherds fare in a bakery AU?

Hmm, interesting question!

Blade: don't hire him. he would drive the customers away with his very presence. just imagine some dour black-clothed man looming in your charming bakery amidst the smells of custard buns like

truly disgusting stuff

Trouble: I think this would be manageable at first, but not ideal! he's really game to try any line of work for as long as it can hold his interest, and baking could appeal to him if you pointed out its scientific/chemical qualities! Aesthetically his cakes and desserts would look like this

...but his bread would be the absolute bomb! and he'd have such a friendly and casual attitude when you walked in that I feel like people around the neighborhood would fall in love with him lol. imagine him working a wood-fire oven!

Tallys: she would be an efficient worker who made delicious pastries with homegrown or foraged ingredients--very Great British Bakeoff in essence, where they're always talking about making their own pestos or growing their own tomatoes for things or whatever--but her personality is cool and courteous enough that people would feel slightly intimidated by her, like you can't just go to her and ask for your a Shrek cake for your son's 5th birthday party, she's an artisan and you have to treat her as such! (even if she never says so explicitly herself)

Shery: this is my dream for her. She's thriving, she has her own cozy bakery with all of the pastel sweets and cute little character macarons you could ever ask for, she constantly smells of sugar and vanilla and smiles warmly when you walk inside! she is the most successful in this AU of them all and eventually goes on to go viral once people discover her quaint little bakeshop!

Riel: he's an angel investor. he gave shery seed money to pursue her dream of being a baker. she parcels him up treats and petit fours and cookies and sends them to his house once a week, or he'll stop in on his way home from work (or send his butler to go get it when he gets a craving). but in no universe are you getting him to work in a bakery, lol. and nor would you want to! the man has no instinct for cooking or baking. all of his food ends up looking like this

the best you'll get out of him is that he makes every display in the bakery extremely, painfully symmetrical...

Chase: you're probably better off hiring him as, like, the greeter or sign spinner or flyer-distributor to get people into the bakery. like, he'd be great at charming customers into your store, but I highly doubt you'd want to trust him to do anything else in the bakery. he doesn't have the patience to be cooped up behind the register all day. he'd get distracted by all the fun ingredients in the kitchen if you tried to get him to follow a recipe and bake some cakes. heck, he'd probably be distracted thirty minutes into the whole venture and would just wander out of the shop, never to return! he might accidentally turn out something tasty now and then, but it's not enough to justify having him in your bakery lol

Red: i feel like he could have helped out in a family's friend bakery for a summer as, like, a favor and a seasonal high school job, lol. would he have enjoyed it? probably not, he'd rather be doing other things, but he'd be competent and attentive enough to keep things running at a decent clip! he'd be great at running the register and service end of things, or doing the numbers or deliveries, but only so-so at the baking/kitchen end of things. he'd make great coffee!

Ayla: she'd be fairly decent at this! I think if you put her in the kitchen and gave her detailed instructions on what to do, she'd resist it at first--scowl, scowl, this is dumb, this is boring, why am I cooped up back here like a slave??--but once she got into the rhythm of things, I could see Ayla enjoying slinging dough and cranking out simple things like cookies, biscuits, and bread. No finicky decorating or delicate stuff like frosting cakes--that's how you get cakes being smashed in fits of temper--but "one-and-done" products would be great for her!

Briony: she's brilliant behind the register, cheerily calling out greetings and wrapping up your pastries in their nice little boxes while making chitchat with you. she'd be a sunny presence that made everyone feel happy and welcome in the bakery. she might be able to help out in the kitchen as an assistant now and again, but it's probably not worth the trouble... she's just as likely to trip and knock over an entire shelf of flour, or accidentally squash a cake under her elbow when going to lean on a table, that it's probably just safer to keep her out of the kitchen altogether...

Lavinet: naur... maybe if you want her to be your hot cashieress, but even in an AU, I feel like there are a lot of jobs she'd take over working in a bakery or any kind of food service! flour? in her hair? i don't think so, darling! while she enjoys food and sweets, she has absolutely zero interest in how it's made or selling it, so this would not be a good fit for her at all!

Halek: baking isn't his passion, but he's obviously second-best at this bakery thing after Shery! I think he'd be one of those weird, elusive, sort of temperamental artist-bakers, the ones who are only open from like 4 AM-9 AM, you have to line up outside and stand on the sidewalk for like 20 minutes before you're allowed to buy up to 3 bagels because he only makes exactly 200 every two days, but once you finally get the damn thing, it's the best bagel you've ever had in your life! oh and he only offers plain and veggie cream cheese or an egg and sausage sandwich, no other options!

[cloveroctobers]

LITTLE DARK AGE — Bode Leone x Reader x Fire Country? [October Prompts] 🧡

A/N: It’s still early into the new season but there’s always potential for me to write more for reckless bode lol. This was a quick write tbh because it definitely could have been longer but I’ve barely had time to write so for those of you who like the spooks, I hope you enjoy this one! Yet this is more of a platonic love (because those are important too!) along with the rest of the characters from fire country hence the question mark lol. + mentions of a character from Chicago Med because why not? Have a safe, fun, and happy Halloween ghoulies 🧡🥳!!!!!

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE & I’m using: GENERAL PLOTS — SURVIVING SUMMER CAMP | possibilities: our muses survived a terrifying serial killing at camp as teens and now as adults we've returned to pay our respects for the nth anniversary. only for us to find that there's a copy cat killer. or maybe one of our muses is a journalist teen actor and the other a survivor.

WARNINGS: slight language + small references to what happened but nothing graphic for the soft Halloween lovers🤞🏽

<- Read my previous October anthology prompt here.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

The summer of 2006 at Camp Goulcrest has been described as one of the most horrific crimes that has ever taken place in Hadleigh, California. What was supposed to be an enjoyable time for young teens to spend their summer with other fellow teens…they would soon experience an unforgettable terror as their precious lives became targets to Hadleigh’s first and only known serial killer.

“I’ve just never expected anything so tragic to happen in a town like this.” Sixty-Three year old, Mary Dixie says with her clasped hands pressed to her mouth before speaking again, “My twin grandsons were supposed to attend that same camp next summer and now this happens? Those poor kids who lost their lives, their families, and oh for heaven’s sake, those young survivors!” She gasps while the camera zooms in on her face, as if she thinking about it for the first time, “I can’t even imagine what they’ve went through and will continue to go through. Although Edgewater—where those kids are from—isn’t that far from us, This has also affected the community of Hadleigh and our deepest sympathies are always with them. It feels as if god is telling us that the dark age is near. I’m glad they caught the bastard but may god be with us all!”

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

Attempting to keep up and not have your ankles roll as you’re being dragged along by the collar, the last trip on a branch irks your nerves just enough for you to snap up at the dark haired man who has his paws on you, “If this is how you treat a lady, then I see why you’re still single.”

He stops in his tracks to glare down at you, “I see you still have a mouth on you.”

You grin up at him, making sure it’s full of sarcasm until the slowly heated exchange is interrupted.

“Hey, Luke! What’re you doing?” The familiar voice catches both of your attention, turning to see Vince Leone making his way over with his wife, Sharon right in tow.

Now those were much better faces to look at!

Luke only pulls on the collar of your jacket some more but that doesn’t stop you from trying to yank yourself from his grasp. “I found this one lurking about fifty yards away in the trees. That tells me everything that I need to know.”

“Oh? Does it?” You mock.

Sharon snickers while Vince tightens his stare at you as he says your name, “…what’re you doing out here kid?”

“I’m back in town and thought taking a stroll to the one place that handed me a nice portion of trauma, would be a good idea.” You state while Vince scoffs and Luke rolls his eyes, never finding your antics to be amusing like everyone else.

Luke huffs, “We’re never going to get a straight answer out of them. Which is exactly why I’ve called it in, one of the cops will take you in since the sheriff will be expecting you.”

“Wait, what?” Sharon questions, “You can’t just go around speculating things, Luke. That’s what gets your ass in trouble all the time.”

The man frowns, knowing that was a jab and thought they were all past that.

“What other explanation would there be?” Luke quizzes, “This old abandoned camp, where the most gruesome murders took place, which they were involved in, along with your son, my nephew, happened eighteen years ago—

Vince holds his hands up, “We don’t need a history lesson, Luke. And I’m sure they don’t either.”

“…im just saying,” Luke sighs, “it’s suspicious that this place almost burned down and yet I find the one person, who has the closest connection to it, just lingering in the woods.”

You’re looking down at your nails, wondering where you could find a good nail shop…definitely not in Hadleigh’s small ghost town, that’s for sure! You only just got here two hours ago, spending majority of the time at the diner where the vanilla milkshake was giving cream sickle instead and the chicken and dumplings had extra seasoning of flies.

It took you a minute to bite the bullet to even get out to this camp but it’s not like Luke Leone bothered to hear any of that.

“Well who do you think called it in, Mr. Know it all?” You piped up, “Yeah that’s right, me! I watched the cabins go up in flames because that’s where it started before it spread.”

Luke glances at his big brother and sister-in-law.

“I think you can let go of them now,” Vince encourages but Luke still hesitates.

You pluck Luke’s wrist, making him focus back on you with a sneer. “That’s Ferragamo you’re messing up and I know you would hate to see the bill.”

“How humble of you.” Luke mutters with another roll of his eyes, “Is it sustainable?” He picks as he finally lets you go with a fling of his wrist.

Fixing your jacket yourself you sigh, “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll ask my auntie for you and see what she says, oh wait…she hates you too.”

That struck a nerve because the next thing you know, Luke is ready to put his finger in your smug face but Sharon steps in, shoving his wrist right back to his side, sending him a stern look before turning back to you. She takes one look at you before slipping an arm across your shoulders and leads you back to where the rest of the firefighters are just about finishing the clean up.

“It’s good to see you,” Sharon starts, always having this nurturing energy about her, “Just didn’t expect it to be like this. You know this is going to be a lot of shit now.”

You cover up a yawn before tilting your head towards the blunt haired woman with a lazy smile, “When isn’t it, Mrs. Leone?”

Equally she sends you a small smile, in an attempt to be comforting. For as long as you known the woman, she was pretty good at reading people. If your mother had lived long enough and didn’t have two older sisters who would do just about anything for you, you were certain that she would have made Sharon your god-mother instead. Plus Sharon lived for the celeb gossip and was always rooting for you, not just in the limelight either.

She turns you by the forearms while Vince is having a hushed conversation—well somewhat—since Luke has definitely raised his voice and is pointing at you, while Vince is caressing at his facial hair in frustration.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen.” Sharon takes her eyes off the two as well, “You’re gonna go with the cops and cooperate because you have nothing to hide. Vince and I will meet you there.”

You nod, not surprised that the older woman didn’t bother to hear much else of your story. Sharon had the upmost respect and trust in you still, even though you both couldn’t recall what year was the last time you visited Edgewater. All you remembered was it was sometime in the fall where your aunties put together this big event at their Victorian cottage and that always got the people talking.

“Promise not to tell my aunties?”

Sharon laughed, “And stress those highly spiritual ladies out over nothing?! I wouldn’t dare and leave that all up to you, girlfriend!”

“Thanks, Mrs. Sharon.”

“Course.” Sharon squeezes your shoulders, “Now try not to make much of a scene since Bode, Jake, and Eve all realize it’s you that I’m talking to.”

A crooked smile spreads over your lips while a throat clears. You turn to see a burly cop waiting for you with one hand on his waistband.

“Where the hell did they find you?” You ask, sizing him up just as the man states your first and last name.

He doesn’t bother answering your question and does a twirl with his finger, “Hands behind your back.”

Sharon begins, “Is that really necessary? They’re not gonna run—

Just as Sharon says this, you jerk to the right of the cop who was probably Samoan—if you had to guess—who easily follows your movements and latches onto your wrist. Playfully smiling up at him with your hands raised you say, “You’re fast, Mr…Mahuta.” You read off his chest, “Play any sports before becoming one with the law?”

Officer Mahuta glances at Sharon to see if you were in fact being so causal about this or it was just in his head. He was also new to the town, been here for six months and he heard some things about you along with your family but once he heard that you were back in town, he didn’t mind being the one in charge of bringing you in.

His sister was a fan.

“Uh yeah, Rugby back in New Zealand for about seven years.” He grins at you, honored that you kind of figured it out without him saying anything.

He even loosens his grip on your wrist, leaving you to clasp them behind yourself while winking at Sharon, who shakes her head at you.

“Oooh, New Zealand huh?” You continue the conversation as Officer Mahuta starts to cuff you, “I originally auditioned for a show that was supposed to film out there but the project got scrapped.”

Officer Mahuta begins leading you away by the elbow, “It’s the most serene place to be with the highest quality of life.”

“Yeah? So the pictures don’t do it any justice? Why leave and come to stinky Edgewater? was it a woman? Or man? Or person?” You quiz as you soon feel more eyes on you the more you get closer to the rest of the firefighters.

Officer Mahuta tells you about his wife and how they both made the decision to come back to help her ill parent. It took a turn for the worse so they ended up staying here much longer and found out they were expecting their own bundle of joy soon. It was nice to hear that some people still found blessings in disguise.

“Superstar?” Jake calls out to you, making you zone back and glance to your right where he stood with Eve.

Kicking that slight dissociation to the side you send a grin his way, “Guess who’s back?”

Eve mutters from Jake’s left, “It ain’t slim shady, that’s for sure.”

You laugh before your eyes shift further to see Bode making his way to stand beside Jake.

“Now what did you go and get yourself into?”

Is the first thing that slips out of Bode’s mouth.

You scoff, “Ask your unc, you know how obsessed he is with me and my whole family. Now that I’m here for who knows how long, it’s going to be marathon for him…because you know I’m about to give him hell.”

Bode side eyes the direction of where his Uncle Luke is, who’s now on the phone but his eyes are sharp on you as Officer Mahuta paused to let you converse with your old friends. His hand is raised in confusion, silently wondering why you’re getting special treatment but again his arm is shoved down but by his brother this time.

“I don’t doubt that.” Bode comments as Officer Mahuta lightly starts to steer you away at the widen stare Luke is sending him some feet away, “Let’s just hope it’s not you going to three rock this time.”

You snort, “Oh, I’m going to make them all look crazy for doing this, believe me. It’s going to be even more satisfying when I make Luke eat shit…so if you’re all not busy, would you care to meet up for breakfast or something tomorrow?”

Eve glances at the two men to her right and shrug, “As long as we’re not bombarded with your fans.”

“Don’t forget, apparently I’m not the only star here. At least in this town.” You tell as Officer Mahuta actually gets you moving again, per Luke’s visual request.

A equal shudder passes over the three but Bode is the one that answers redirecting it back to catching up and not the fact that they’re all standing on the grounds of the one place they tried to shove to their back of their minds, “Yeah. We’ll be there.”

“Great.” You state as you allow Officer Mahuta to lead you away into the night.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

“Why’re you looking at me like that?” Bode asks from across you.

You lift your cheek from your balled up knuckles, “I’m just trying to figure out, when you decided you wanted to look like your damn grandad?”

Eve and Jake share a snicker, just as the waitress slides over your herbal tea. You thank her verbally and with your eyes before latching onto the mug then meeting Bode’s shining dark teal eyes.

“What? You’re not a fan of the new look?” Bode quizzes, while watching you barely blow on the tea before sipping at the liquid.

It was a thing, you not caring about how hot the food is temperature or spicy wise, you would dive in. Jake often joked that your aunties better watch out since their relative might just be a demon but they all knew you had a phobia of fire. Which is why it didn’t make sense for Luke to accuse you of setting fire to the old camp that required Cal Fire to come out and assist on. Sure you had motive, just as the rest of the three but you got snippy, ready to show your burn marks to the cops who interrogated you until the sheriff came back (to take over) from a quick ran he had to make.

It was obvious the old cops wanted to keep you here for the night and you might as well have, since you didn’t get released until one in the morning!

“You need to give your dad his mustache back. As for the new chop? Reminds me of how curly your hair used to be back in the day, now that? Was a look.” You informed, making Bode laugh lightly before biting into his bagel.

Eve whispers from beside you after obnoxiously slurping on her smoothie, “Careful now…”

Jake also chimes in after bumping the blond’s shoulder, “Bode can’t help it if the curls always got the girls.”

Playfully gagging, earned you some napkins being tossed your way by the man himself. You soon watch the expression on his face turn serious, which immediately, being that friend, makes you use your elbow as leverage to twist your body against the booth to see what changed this demeanor of Bode’s.

“Can you not be so obvious?” Bode gruffs, which makes Eve almost want to turn too but she figures it out once Jake mouths what she was thinking.

The table goes quiet as the dark haired woman heads to the counter, saying that she’s picking up an order. With one hand on her phone, she slowly turns towards the table you’re all seated at and waves with a smile.

“Hey, Gabi.” Jake calls over his shoulder.

Eve also smiles back at her, “Morning, Gabs!”

Her eyes flick to Bode and then you, but turns her attention back to the guy behind the counter who hands her a bag. She makes her way by the table but not without throwing in a, “Bode, hi.”

“Um, hey, hi.” Bode stumbles which makes you raise a brow.

Reaching over Eve you hold out your hand to introduce yourself, “So you’re thee Gabi I’ve seen and heard little about. I’m…old friend of these three rascals.”

Gabby places her hand in yours to lightly shake, “Uh…yeah, I’m familiar with some of your work. How did you hear about me, exactly?”

“Jake’s Instagram!” You admit, “Just to learn you two are not together anymore.”

Gabriela awkwardly glanced at Jake who shakes his head at you in annoyance, “Don’t mind them, they just say whatever comes to mind.”

“Y’all are acting like I said something horrible.” You place your hands on your chest with wide eyes, “Is it not a fact?”

“It is,” Eve verified, “Just not the first thing you need to bombard her with, given that you’re just meeting, so early in the morning.”

Gabi stretches a smile over her lips, “It’s not a big deal. Things just didn’t work out, as some relationships don’t, right?”

You hum and sip at your tea.

“Well…It was nice meeting you.” Gabi bids her farewell, “I’ll see you guys later.” She sends another glance at Bode who presses his lips together at her before leaving.

Meeting everyone’s eyes again you demand, “Okay…out with it. What was that?”

“What was what?” Bode lifts his shoulders, ready to bite back into the half of his bagel but you slap it back down onto his plate.

Mocking him with a lift of your shoulders you say, “That whole lingering look between you two. What’s the story?”

Jake rolls his neck around, while Eve points between the two.

“So are you two going to tell them, or shall I be the one to do it?”

“It doesn’t even really matter.” Jake exasperates, while Bode appears to be more interested in his breakfast than meeting your eyes.

Your brows raise, “I call bullshit. I’ve known all of you since forever and may have been living a different life in Chicago and wherever else I’m expected to be but please don’t think I’m dumb.”

Jake meets Bode’s eyes while Eve decides to tell you. You were all friends and it didn’t need to be a secret.

“Jake and Gabi used to be in a relationship as you know, and we’re actually engaged. Then that was broken up by Bode and Gabi becoming an unofficial thing—mind you this was all happening while Bode was serving his time in three rock. THEN Bode pushed her away and Gabi got involved with a paramedic dude named Diego, which led to them getting engaged pretty fast. That wedding didn’t happen either because Bode and Gabi keep going back and forth with their feelings for each other. Oh! And also Jake and Cara, you remember Cara Maisonette? Were in a relationship for a while and due to her untimely passing, rest in peace! Jake is now raising her daughter, Gen, Genevieve who was potentially Bode’s but she actually might be Rick Stengler’s.” Eve gave you the run down, while you pointed mentally connecting the dots as she talked as if you were Adele in that one livestream.

Sitting back against the booth you blink back and forth between the two men, “…what kind of soap opera shit is this?”

Jake points his fork at the short haired woman on your right, “Notice how Eve didn’t air out any of her business?”

“That’s because I’m clean from the drama baby!” Eve whoops with her fist raised up in the air.

Sipping at your herbal tea once more you say, to the two across from you, “The tabloids would have a field day with you two.”

“Thank god we didn’t go Hollywood, we’ll leave that all to you, superstar.” Jake lifts his own mug up at you, as he uses your nickname.

Bode clears his throat, deciding to ask, “Enough about our crap, what’s up with you in that department? Are you and the foot? Doctor guy still a thing?”

“He wasn’t a foot doctor.” Eve scrunches up her nose.

Bode is confused, “I could have sworn—

“Uh, He’s a pharmacist?” Jake affirms so matter of factly, “And it’s John, right?”

Laughing at your friends you say, “you’re all wrong. The only thing Jake got right was his name. He’s a resident in Pediatric emergency medicine.”

“That’s a mouth full.” Eve comments as she pops some grapes into her mouth.

“Tell me about it.” You nudge Eve who raises her brows at you while you smirk.

“Ew, alright! It’s too early for that kind of talk, shut up.” Jake cringes while you just laugh.

Stretching your arms above your head you exhale, “That’s unfortunately over with after four years. He tried to say it was to focus more on his career but he and I both know he didn’t want that kind of spotlight put back on him.”

“That’s right, he was on that one show when he was a kid right?” Jake snaps his finger.

You nod.

Bode apprised, “That’s his loss, he had to have known what he was getting himself into.”

“Sure,” you shrug, “People change their minds all the time though, which is scary. We all know I’m also not the most easiest to deal with either so…I have no choice but to respect it.”

Eve nods, “yeah maybe…but if you love someone enough and the relationship is healthy then you put the work in to keep it going strong. That’s just how I see it.”

“I never liked him anyway, not that we’ve been around him much.” Jake adds with his mouth full, which makes you scoff with a roll of your eyes, “His face was too perfect and you can’t trust that.”

Oh brother!

Bode even pretends to think about it too.

“I’ve missed you guys,” you let out sigh resting your hand in the center of the table reaching out, which is shortly followed by Eve placing her hand right on top of yours.

“Are we really about to do a whole hand huddle right now?” Bode inquired after Jake stacks his right on top of Eve’s.

Jake scoffs, “Don’t act like you don’t miss this on the baseball field.”

“…Never really thought about it.”

“Really?” You quiz.

“Yeah, there’s always been too much going on to really think about what went on before.” Bode speaks, “…At least some things.”

Which definitely meant he was hinting at Riley.

You nod in understanding, “I get that.”

Bode searches your face in that moment before slowly placing his hand on top of Jake’s.

You let the ball drop, “Which is why…I’m going back to the camp tonight since it’s the anniversary today.”

“What?!” Eve peered at you sideways.

“I knew there was a catch,” Jake grumbled, taking his hand back, “Buttering us up just to throw something crazy on us.”

You shrug your shoulders, “I’m not forcing any of you to come with me. It’s been eighteen years and i was drawn there for a reason—

“Yeah it’s call unresolved trauma.” Eve answers, “I think there’s been more than enough signs to stay away from that Goulcrest. I even bet that the sheriff told you to say away from there too.”

“…I cannot confirm or deny.” You rest your elbows against the table, sticking your nose up into the air.

Eve groans with her hands thrown back up in the air, pleading with her eyes as she looks at Jake and Bode to be the voice of reason.

“It’s mostly about paying my respects.” You try to justify.

Bode blinks as he leans a bit over the table, “You shouldn’t be out there alone, especially when that place is being investigated on arson and they thought you had something to do with it.”

“Mostly Luke, since he couldn’t blame it on my aunties…but give it time.” You continue, “Clearly I’m not afraid to be out there on my own and I’ll do it again.”

Jake hisses, “That’s your problem. You don’t know when to quit.”

“Hey, you’ve guys have been here for years and not once did any of you bring it up to me in our adulthood and that’s fine, we all deal with trauma differently. I got out as soon as I could, ran away from it but can any of us really sit here and say we got the closure from what happened?”

“…my closure is not ever mentioning it again.” Jake explains, now pushing his food around on his plate.

“Keep telling yourself that, you bury yourself into your work and are strictly by the book not being open to new ideas because of what exactly?” You round off, “Having control over things is better than not having control and where do you think that stems from, hm?”

Jake swallows the lump in his throat as he fires right back, “…how would you know? You haven’t been around.”

Chuckling to yourself humorlessly you respond, “I’ve heard more than enough just sitting here listening to you talk and it’s been over an hour. Whether you like it or not, I know my friends, no matter the distance.”

Eve comes in, “if you know us enough, then it should have been in your best interest to probably keep your little second venture to camp of horrors to yourself.”

Your tightened stare meets all three sets of eyes, “Wooooow, okay! And here I thought this was a safe space to not avoid shit because that’s what you’re all doing.”

“Did you or did you not just say that we all deal with trauma in different ways?” Eve tilts her head to the side.

“I did. But I also dont need for you all to look at me as if I’ve grown three heads for wanting to honor the victims…which most of us were too, if you forgot.”

Eve sucks in her cheeks at this, feeling as if that was a jab. She had been sent off to a hospital after breaking her collarbone during one of the activities. Just to come back to multiple bloody scenes that didn’t go away even when she closed her eyes.

“How could we?! We were kids. I’ve never been so depressed before in my life. You and Bode thought I was dead, I did almost die. I don’t think it’s a crime to try and move on and that’s no disrespect to those we lost.” Jake speaks, “I tried to play it off once recognizing the address before it was announced that it was camp Goulcrest because we had a job to do. All I wanted to do was turn that damn truck around and let it burn. Once I finally snapped out of it, I knew I had to live my life and that’s what we should all be doing. Not living in the fucked up past.”

The table goes quiet.

“The thing is…the limelight isn’t bright enough for me to live the life I need.” You say with a shaky breath, “So I’ll be at the camp tonight, no matter what anyone says or thinks.”

Bode’s seen that look in your eye plenty of times before so he knew you meant it, as you collected your things and excused yourself from the deli.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

Letting out a slow exhale, you stood inside what was once known as the rec hall. It didn’t experience as much damage as the cabins which completely burned down but the soot covered a good portion of it along with a hole in the wall that brought in the air that was ready for a season change. It smelled like smoke opposed to its old sap and dirt feel it used to have back then.

The ceramic wind chimes that you managed to loop around one of the lower beams, had you hugging yourself as you stared up at them afterwards. Your eyes felt like they wanted to burn remembering all the lives that were lost and you fought the urge to scratch at the burn that took up a good chunk of the side of your thigh. The more you stood in the rec hall, eyes scanning the end of the stairs, where your mind sizzled with the thought of the killer causing you harm in his off-putting mask.

A hand goes to your shoulder, a reflex was instant as you twisted the palm and pressed on their thumb, ready to break it.

“It’s just us!” Jake’s voice calls out, wincing and you immediately let go of him, “I called out to you a good five times but you seemed to be zoned out. Damn.”

“You don’t sneak up on people!”

“I wasn’t sneaking,” Jake shook of his hand, “How else did you want us to get your attention?”

“By not touching me?”

“Okay, relax you two.” Eve commands as she peers up and around the ceiling of this place, “we’re all okay.”

Which sounds like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

“…are we?” Bode asks, his voice projecting a good distance from you three.

That’s when all of you set your eyes on the blond, who’s standing by the fireplace that’s tucked into the back of the spacious hall.

You’re the first that moves over to Bode, seeing that he’s holding something between his two fingers. His eyes scan over your face once more, as you latch onto his wrist holding his arm in place as you peer at the card he’s holding.

The card read: THE FOOL which was a distant memory of the joker card that was always left at the scene of The Goulcrest killer’s crime.

“W-what is that?” Jake rasped, although you can sense that he already knew.

Eve whispered, “…is that blood?”

Bode calls out your name after you step back from him, moving around the hall in search of what could be another dead body.

“What is happening right now?” Eve is frantic as she watches you, seeing you stop in your tracks, hand going to pinch at your hairline in thought.

The chimes start to whip from the beams in a manner that is less than gentle. You’re overwhelmed, knowing that there had to be somebody here because who randomly leaves behind a card like that, which is highly connected to what happened years ago?

The Goulcrest killer tried to set you on fire as if the brutal attack before that wasn’t enough. You were his last target and the first to see the camp begin to burn in present day, there had to be a connection there.

It felt like being in a trance the longer you stared at the chimes that were supposed to honor the old camp members, although it was better to define it as trigger like because the harder they whipped against the wind, the more they started to sound like the bells that dangled from the killer’s mask.

Jake and Eve were already back by the door, ready to high tail it out of there once they got a good enough look at the bloody card Bode found. It was Bode who had to remind you that you weren’t alone, just like you had to do at fourteen watching him get tortured.

Telling him that you were there and wouldn’t leave him as you lay by the stairs with only a shattered ankle at the time.

“Hey,” his voice broke through the jingling of bells that did their best to occupy your mind.

Those same bells that commonly affected your sleeping patterns so much that no pill or drug could conquer it.

“It’s you and I, remember?” Bode said, now cradling your face, “And we can leave this time, okay?”

He’s patient but firm, letting you known that now you had the choice to get away from the dark. Bode didn’t think it was the best idea being here but he also didn’t think you should be here alone and he was right—which it wasn’t about—but there was now this high risk of there being a copy cat killer.

Something all of you didn’t deserve to see a repeat of.

So you allowed him to tuck you underneath his arm, leading you out of the old rec hall to where Jake and Eve stood by the doors of Eve’s car. Once they saw the two of you made it out, they did not hesitate to hop right into the car, which was already started.

“I’ll drive.” Bode tells you, awaiting for your keys, which you surprisingly didn’t fight him on as you slapped it into his palm.

Bode watches you as you get to the passenger side of your car and he glanced over at Jake who had his window down as Eve slowly starts to pull off, “I’ve called it into the county here but you know with a smaller town like this, they probably won’t jump right on it.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“Hey,” Jake calls out to Bode, who glanced at the brown skinned man over his shoulder, “…you didn’t take the card, did you?”

The look in Bode’s eye was enough of an answer to Jake, as he’s rolling his window back up.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

“You should tell your aunties you’re here.” Bode suggestions in one of the motel rooms you chose to stay in.

He’s been watching you pace the floor for awhile and even muted the reruns of Family feud, finding your shuffling to be more soothing than the slightly irritating sound of the trumpet instrumental that played on that fan favorite show.

Bode’s seen your episode before in prison about three years ago with your now ex-boyfriend, John right at your side. It was weird seeing someone you grew up with be surrounded by people you didn’t think they would mesh with.

You never really had the time to just be.

After what happened at camp and being seen by numerous of doctors and counselors, it seemed as if everything was expected to go back to normal. At least that’s what Bode tried to do when it came to his healing process, dived into baseball to get rid of what still lingered, got into relationships, got into drugs, the distance between you grew as you went out to Los Angeles full-time to pursue acting, lost his sister, dealt with his father hating him, robbed a store, and you all know the rest.

It was all anything but fucking normal so in a sense, Bode understood that it was more than just paying your respects on the anniversary, it was about seeing the darkness little by little, and finding your way out for good this time.

“So they can try to locate this new copy cat killer for us and attempt to vanquish them?”

None of you saw a body or stayed around long enough to find out but it was something that was mutually felt.

A smile appears on the corner of Bode’s lips as he sat in a nearby chair with his elbows digging into his knees, “…if you think that would help?”

“No, Bode! I don’t.” You finally plop down on the edge of the bed, being aware that he was just trying to lighten the mood.

It was no secret back in Edgewater that people thought your mom and aunties were witches. Your mother was always chasing after normal whereas your aunties had no problem living in their truth.

Soon Bode’s sitting beside you, elbows digging into his knees. “…if you need me, I’m here.”

“I won’t leave you either, Bo.” You flop back against the bed, “Definitely not now.”

Bode also moves to lay back against the bed beside you, “…Did you have plans to go back?”

“To what?” You sigh, “Being under a microscope? Being tugged this way and that way like a robot…although this was what I wanted.”

Bode hums, “Originally you wanted to be on broadway, which is still huge and I won’t ever discredit that, yet you’ve been on the big screen and plenty of streaming services. If John walked away for good in terms of acting, why not take time to decide if this is still what you want?”

“…when did you get so wise, old friend of mine?” You raise your hand so that your knuckles can bump each other’s.

Bode snorts, “I’ve had time on my hands.”

“Literally.”

“Smart ass.” Bode laughs, slipping his fingers through yours.

Squeezing Bode’s hand against yours, you close your eyes. “Just you and I, Bode Leone.”

And you feel him shuffle closer with his head resting against yours.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

October 2024 Masterlist here.

[fran-does-things]

I’m definitely very late to the party, but I’ve finally finished the profile for my @shepherds-of-haven MC! Oh well, better late than never, I suppose. She’s loosely adapted from an old DnD PC of mine from a CoS campaign that I had such a blast role-playing! It took a while to hammer out all the details, but I’m really proud of how she turned out!

Anyway, without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to Cecilia Niriviel, Hero of Haven, and gaslight gatekeep girlboss extraordinaire!

(also, if you saw me delete and then reupload this post like 3 times, no you didn’t <3)

(Warning: The following excerpt contains vague references to events that occur in Chapter 9 of the Alpha build) “On the contrary, my friends, I think this is actually one of the better outcomes that could have resulted from that conversation. As much as it hurts my pride to say this, even I must admit that I’m a bit out of my depths when it comes to all this… old magic stuff. But blackmail?” At this, she smiles; a sharp, predatory smile that would have sent chills down the spines of the toughest of men. “Blackmail, I’m very familiar with. If that woman thinks that she’s the only one capable of playing dirty, then it would seem that her little homework assignment into my past wasn’t as thorough as she thinks it is. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” - Cecilia Niriviel, in a conversation with her allies at the Sun Court.

Some Additional Fun Facts that I Couldn’t Include in the Original Profile

Chase has a whole host of nicknames for her, including, but not limited to: ‘blondie’ (her hair really is very blonde), ‘doll/dolly’ (owing to her large, round eyes), and ‘princess’ (this one comes up often when he’s teasing her for being particularly fussy/diva-like)

Celia has a particularly tumultuous relationship with beauty, like many women do, I’d imagine. She’s always been regarded as very conventionally attractive, which means that, for better or for worse, her looks are often the first thing (and main thing) that people notice about her. This has unfortunately led to her having developed a sense of self-worth that’s wrapped up in her appearance in some pretty destructive ways. A lot of her behavioural quirks are manifestations of this core belief. One of the absolute worst things that anyone, particularly a lover, could do to her is to make her feel as though her looks are the only thing that she is valued for; I think that would really crush her self-esteem and lead her down a horrible self-destructive spiral.

She loves cats. Or any other cute, small animals, really, but especially cats. If she sees a cat, she will immediately drop whatever it is she was doing to either pet the cat or just coo at it from afar if it doesn’t want to be touched. Her very obvious love of small animals is what helped to endear her to Tallys and Shery in the early days of her joining the order, who either wasn’t too sure whether she could be trusted (Tallys) or found her a bit intimidating at first (Shery).

When it comes to her stance on love, she's what I would describe as a 'closet romantic'. After a string of bad experiences, I think she’s convinced herself that she’s just not cut out for all this love business , but deep down she’s always retained that innocent, child-like romanticism. When she was a little girl, she’s always been fascinated by fairytales about brave knights and princesses, of soulmates, and of the power of true love; and I think there’s a part of her that’s still in love with the idea of love and is still waiting for her one true love to show up! (Just you wait, Celia; little do you know, your prince charming is sneaking up on you like an assassin in the dark ;))

She doubled as a black-market informant during the years she spent working as a courtesan, selling information about her wealthy patrons to anyone willing to pay her a hefty sum. Listen: long story short, the girl was stuck in a predatory labour contract, and she needed to make money somehow if she wanted to get out of it sooner rather than later! Occasionally, she would also take on small jobs like stealing, smuggling things, etc… It helped that she had developed a few contacts in the local thieves’ guilds from her days as a street-child who would go on to help her get her foot in the door, so to speak. This line of work has never really bothered her; most of her patrons were, in her eyes, nothing but predatory, hedonistic pigs, though there are some crimes so heinous that even she’s not willing to abet in it, or some people who she just couldn’t bring herself to harm. This is a time of her life that she looks back on with a little shame and remorse, in her later years. Just a little.

Celia was partly inspired by my own struggles with overcoming trauma. I’ve always been fascinated by the ‘femme fatale’ character archetype, and she is, in a way, my take on a deconstructed version of that trope. I think of her journey from ruthless mercenary to renowned hero as less of a redemption story, or of a battle between the good and evil within, but more of a story of healing and growth. A story of someone learning to overcome their maladaptive behaviours and moving past traumatic life events. Learning to stop being beholden to events that have long transpired and to allow yourself to just live life the way you want to live

Her closest friends in the Shepherds are Chase (twin!), Lavinet (bestie!), Tallys (big sister!), and Riel (co-mastermind for world domination!). She also has a particular soft spot for all the female Shepherd captains. I’d say the characters she has the most interesting dynamic with are actually Chase and Briony, but this is a story for another time!

There is betting pool among the officers on who Celia is involved with. Funny enough, for a very long time, Riel is generally considered the top contender, not Blade, which is just hilarious on so many levels. I think a lot of the officers tend to excuse their more suspicious interactions as just... Celia being Celia (read: a notorious flirt) and Blade being Blade (read: a stick-in-the-mud) and can’t fathom the idea of them getting together. On the other hand, Riel and Celia just play off each other really well, so I can definitely see some of the Shepherds extrapolating a romantic connection from their professional synergy. It doesn't help that they’re often seen together on the off chance that they both have some time off, or that they primarily communicate through cryptic looks and subtle eye-glances. I imagine that once Blade and Celia's relationship becomes official/more public, it would cause a mild panic among the recruits because "I thought she was seeing the other commander? Wtf is going on???"

Bonus: In a pre-relationship crushing stage, poor Blade is probably 4th on the officers’ betting list of ‘who is Commander Niriviel secretly fucking’, right below Chase and Briony. Chase and Celia practically invented platonic flirting, and there many who mistake Briony and Celia’s frequent sleepovers/girl-talk sessions as something far less innocent than it really is. At this point, I’m pretty sure she’s been suspected of sleeping with pretty much all of the captains at one point or another. Being the busybody social butterfly that she is, Celia’s definitely heard most if not all of these rumours, but she really doesn’t care enough to do anything about it most of the time, plus she finds some of these rumours to be so preposterous that it’s actually kind of funny.

I had no idea that Celia was going to be a Blademancer, and yet here we are! I really thought it was going to be either Chase or Red, but I think it just wouldn’t have worked out quite as well. The slow burn comes from the fact that both Blade and Celia currently have their heads stuck far up their asses, albeit in different ways. It takes Blade a while to realize/accept that he's even in love, and while Celia is self-aware enough to realize when she's falling for someone, she's not emotionally mature enough to deal with it in a normal way. There was a lot of screaming and cursing and "this can't be happening to me; I don't fall for people!! People fall for me!!!" They both learn to get over their fears and hesitations, however, when they realize just how much life and vibrancy the other brings to their life. I like to think that Celia helps Blade come out of his shell, to learn to be a little more selfish when it matters and helps him enjoy the beauty in life; meanwhile Blade is a grounding force for her; he sees past her smokescreens, reminds her of her goodness, and makes her want to be a better person.

If you've made it this far, thank you for indulging me in my ramblings about a fictional character! There may be more Celia content coming in the future; I've been thinking a lot about the events of Chapter 4 and might write something on that. suffice to say I've honestly really fallen in love with the game and with its cast of characters. I've found myself with a lot of free time this week (clearly) and have finally caught up to the update, and all I can say is that Celia and I are both currently having the time of our lives watching the drama unfold. Can't wait to see what else is coming next! <3

[bigmeandragonlady]

Finally finished the dossier template, few other things of note:

Pretty handy with a knife as well as the bow.

Can process seafood really quickly

Prefers to be at a REASONABLE height with the sky above her

If you want to know her exact birthday, you'll have to figure it out on your own or hassle her enough

Scars: a small cut on her chin, stab scar on her stomach (she fell out of a tree and impaled herself, okay), inside of her bicep, across the outside of her right wrist to her thumb, palm side of her left thumb

Tattoos: Ket tattoo on the inside of the wrist, floral sleeve on her left arm, anchor + rope + birds on one of her ankles

I kept rambling and found it hard to summarize the relationships so I've expanded under the cut. There are def rumors that she's dating or sleeping with at least half of them

Blade: they get along weirdly well. Recruits in particular are always surprised to find them casually walking together- they find her softer demeanor an odd juxtaposition to how Blade... is. Also! He is fun to tease. thinks how much she'd like to hear him whimper. It's a miracle they don't butt heads more often, considering her beef with authority. He hates when she gets together with Trouble and Chase b/c she joins them in being a group menace.

Romance: I could see it but Blade would have to make the first move and bridge that gap, as she's convinced herself she's not meant for a relationship. One of the biggest issues i would see them having is Blade's protectiveness would make her feel like she was being smothered and coddled at times.

Trouble: They get on like a house on fire. Her first friend in the order and i'm still deciding if they get arrested together or she pulls Trouble away. Very casual with physical affection and he's a personal space heater. Not a lot to say here b/c it's pretty straight forward!

Romance: Absolutely could see it happening but this would involve a third party kicking Trouble in the ass b/c he's dense as a brick. But it could very well fall apart b/c of her whole romantic relationship = bad, thing. She would realize 'i have feelings for him, but he doesn't have any idea yet' and probably distance herself which would cause confusion and hurt for Trouble, he might confide in someone and they just "she has feelings for you, dipshit"

Tallys: A little more complicated- Aelyn bounces and feeds off other ppl's personalities to interact so the cool, calm, detached thing is kind of weird sometimes b/c she's.... not that. It gets better as she eases out of survival mode. Tallys has given her a lot of tips when it comes to archery (flirting, unnecessary touching, ect included), they go on nature walks, and they do talk often.

Romance: Maybe. While they work as friends with benefits... idk if it would go beyond that. Speaking of: Tallys is absolutely the one to break that arrangement off b/c she's the first one to clock Aelyn being in deep for Chase (or just... between tallys and chase, idk how she has any energy). this is how i see it happening anyway, since aelyn is in denial and idk how willing tallys would be to be in the middle of... that. Of course, how these two fwb route interact can absolutely change things

Shery: She loves Shery. Like if she was more comfortable with casual affection Aelyn would give a hug and kiss on the head when they met up. Borderline cute aggression (I could see Aelyn getting drunk, holding onto Shery, saying "you're so adorable, what the fuck"). Shery does a good job of making her feel cared about w/o being coddled. Has loved helping her be a little more assertive

Romance: I think Shery would be too timid to kick things off and that's what Aelyn needs. I would see this being Shery falling and not saying anything.... forever. There's also the "and they were both bottoms" lol.

Riel: They get along but I wouldn't call them good friends? They respect each other but if they had no work related reason to see each other, both would be okay with that. Even if he was romanceable for a fem MC, it would not happen. Man won't even share his food.

Chase: This is hard b/c my brain kind of turns to static when I think about them. But they got on very quickly. Not as quickly as say, Trouble, but when she said 'We're square' she genuinely meant it. she got points right off the bat for tracking him down and busting into the guild solo and not really giving a shit that they're the thieves guild. He gets points for being so easy to get a long with and leading a life that would make him a huge hypocrite for judging her past choices.

Romance: He's her main romance so- It's such a fucking mess and i love mess. Fuck buddies who have caught feelings and are stupid about it b/c they don't want them. They've managed to worm past each others walls on accident and it's going to get worse before it gets better. At this point in the game, the thought of losing him or even turning down the dial on whatever they have going on is devastating, which scares her. Honestly, just how relationship avoidant I make her ultimately depends on how the torpedo + subsequent reconciliation happens.

Red: He caught her scoping the library and offered her a tour, gaining immediate friendship points. She's envious of his education but he's so open with his knowledge and resources she can't resent him. they talk about nerdy magic shit all the time and Blade is 🙄 when they start bouncing off each other.

Romance: Such a close runner up to Chase it's almost tragic. The biggest tipping point is that she met chase first. I think he would be patient enough to get past her walls and mature enough to just fucking... talk to her. There's obviously chemistry and something there that would make him pursue her. this would be overall healthier and wouldn't explode (as badly). she'd be terrified of meeting his family though.

Ayla: They're pretty protective of each other pretty quickly, they see the similarities they have and they get a long well. Aelyn makes an active effort to remind Ayla she has a place here and people she can trust. Teases her until she gets punched in the ribs.

Romance: No matter what I do I can't see them in a relationship. :| She's the only one out of the romacables (for fem MC) that I'm like hmmm no.

Halek: They get along very well and he seems to take her flirting in stride. I can see them cooking together (assuming Halek isn't one of those 'get out of my kitchen' people)- cooking and eating together is a significant bonding activity for her. She feels like Halek is a big judgment free zone so that's big friendship points for her.

Romance: Yes, if only to make a lifelong enemy of Moonsilk. I think they're compatible but I also don't know if I know his character well enough to say definitely. If he ever wants to 'hang out' she's down to clown.

Briony: Once she realized Briony was genuinely on the same side as her in the arena they were buds. She fascinated by Briony's sword and jokes that Red's blatant curiosity is rubbing off on her. Right there with Ayla with 'hey you want us to 'talk' to them 🤜' they like to walk around, arms linked, and GOSSIP

Romance: I- maybe? I could see it. Possibly. Though, apparently she and Lavinet's type is similar sooo maybe not. I don't think it would be.... great. My biggest fear is that Aelyn would actively sabotage this relationship and create a lasting wound for Briony (although tbh this is a fear for pretty much all the ROs)

Lavinet: They hold each other in high regard and their relationship is warmer then Aelyn and Riel's but but there's still a distance there. Lavinet operates very differently then she does and it throws Aelyn off. I'm not sure how true it is but Aelyn is pretty sure Lavinet would judge the shit out of her for some of the things she's done in the past. They bond over riding and girls nights though. Like Riel: even if romancable, it wouldn't happen.

Mimir: It's complicated. On one hand she does like Mimir as Mimir, loves how weird she can be. On the other, the whole god(s) thing? don't like that. She's resentful and tries real hard not to direct it at Mimir

[yuuugay]

The bunny project

Wanless Journal entry #23

My day wasn't supposed to end up in a wild chase to find that stuffed rabbit Caine lost. (Note: Give the kid advice on how to not lose his things. Or other people's things.)

We did end up finding the rabbit near a bunch of small cats who tore that stuffed animal to it's last threads. I said to the kid to take it back, but Caine insisted his friend, Claire, wouldn't mind. Why he made that decision without Claire's input, I don't know. Nevertheless, I just offered to make him a new one. He was skeptical that I could sew and make things because in his words, "You just don't look like the type of man to do, like, crafty things, you know?". Like yeah, whatever that means. But I couldn't help but check my appearance earlier and I still don't get his point. But who cares, I don't know what someone "crafty" is supposed to look like.

But alas, it happened. And it...wasn't bad. The kid was happy. He gave me some weird card of Tallys(?) as a reward, which I just stuffed in my pocket. I was more annoyed he put his ENTIRE NAME on that damn board. Careless brat. Did no one teach him that his name could be used against him?

(Note: Force Red to give Caine lessons on magical name manipulation.)

Either way, I haven't gotten to sew anything for a while now that I have enough money not to refurbish clothes, so I might've pricked my fingers a few times. I had to use my only pillow to make that rabbit, but that's not really relevant, I'm used to sleeping on a flat surface most of the time anyways. Shery looked at me some weird way when I mentioned that fact, just like the time she found me sleeping on the floor one day. But her concern is not of my concern.

Gods, that girl cares too much.

But to end this stupid journal, that Shery, once again, somehow convinced me that I should do.

It...was fun. As long as he's happy, I'm hap- Why is this so embarrassing to write? It's not like anyone's gonna read this kak but me. I set up multiple enchantments so no one, especially Caine could find and open this book. Not that I'd expect him to read through people's things. He's a good kid.

[yuechicake]

down by the shore.

summary: chase and qilan visit the ocean.

notes: 1.1k words, vague chase backstory allusions

In the mirror of the ocean, Qilan can see the sun’s buttery light diffusing on the water, the clouds smearing the sky reflected as aimless drifters on the waves. The water is calmer than she’s used to, a brilliant shade of blue that reminds her of one of Shery’s blueberry cakes, topped by frothy white icing. It’s all framed by broad swathes of warm sand, no sharp outcroppings or black rocks in sight.

Further down the beach, children tumble by the shallow shore and families carouse, lured by the gentle spring weather. Faint shrieks of joy and laughter carry on the salty breeze. It feels like a painting of another era, capturing a lifetime so distant from what Qilan has known.

Somewhere behind her, Chase walks slowly, pant legs rolled to his knees. His clothes are a complication of loose white fabric and tight brown laces, framing his body in a casually stylish way. He’s ready to catch attention or to hide himself amongst the crowd, whatever his next plan necessitates. 

Qilan has already stepped in the surf, water gently rolling across her ankles as she holds her skirts delicately away from the water. Somewhere, on that sandy expanse behind them, they’ve abandoned their shoes. Chase ambles up to her, dropping his chin onto her shoulder from behind.

Before them, the sea stretches like a silk shawl, boats beading its expanse. Chase asks, “How many deucalions would it take to know your thoughts?” 

“More than you could ever steal,” she says, before relenting, “The water is a lot warmer than I’m used to.”

“Really? I think it’s a bit chilly.” He drapes his arms around her waist, resting his weight on her.

“Around where I grew up,” she says, the words slipping out more easily than they ever have before, “It was always cold, even during the summer. My village was up on a cliff, and the waters crashed against the rocks. I could hear it at night.”

“Huh. I thought you said you played near the beaches.”

“I did. The waters were rough, but I learned to swim in them. All the Ket children did, and we would often race. If you go out far enough, you could fish where it was calmer. It would take twenty minutes just to traverse the paths down the cliffs, and the beaches were rocky.”

“No collecting shells?” Chase teases. “Or building sand castles? It sounds like you came out of the womb with a grimace and a dagger in your hand.”

“All Ket do,” she says, placing a hand over one of his own, tanned and warmed from the sunshine. “It’s why you can never win against me. I was running drills before I was born.”

Chase lets out a low whistle. “I never want to be on your bad side, Sunshine.”

“Then you should stop getting on it.”

“Ah, but it’s no fun otherwise,” he says. “You make it easy.”

“Just like you’re easily one of the most annoying people I’ve met,” Qilan returns.

“Don’t flatter me like that,” Chase says.

“What about you, then?”

“What about me?”

“You said you grew up by the ocean. Is this place familiar to you?”

For a long moment, he doesn’t speak. Chase flips over his hand so he can lace their fingers together, thumb tracing nonsensical letters where it can reach. Whether it’s a nervous habit or a plea for reassurance, Qilan can’t tell. 

“No,” he says. “It’s not. I don’t know if there’s one stretch of water I can claim as my own. My father and I… we moved around too much for that. We must have sailed up and down the length of Blest. Sometimes, when you’ve seen all the different faces of something, the individual parts become unrecognizable to you.”

There’s a wistfulness in his voice, and it’s a familiar longing to Qilan. Somewhere, under the waves, they’ve left parts of themselves to the sea that will never return to them.

“It’s a home you can’t return to because it doesn’t exist,” she says calmly. “I understand.”

Chase squeezes her hand before letting go. “Guess we’re a little similar, Sunshine.”

The warmth against her back vanishes as Chase pulls away from her. In a fluid movement, Qilan turns, just in time to see him picking something off the ground and splashing back, flicking seawater onto her clothes. He beckons her closer, and cupped in his palms is a perfectly formed seashell, delicate, pink swirls speckled with flecks of white.

“A seashell?”

“Never too late to start collecting them,” he says, grinning. “But do me a favor. Hold it up to your ear.”

She obliges, scooping it from his hand to gingerly place it against her ear. In the hollows of the shell, waves roar and crash, a miniature ocean trapped within. 

“Nice, right? As a kid, I… used to look for buried treasure. Part of being a corsair, I guess. You start seeing it everywhere. But I would only find stuff like sea glass and sand dollars and shells. Back then, those felt as valuable as any piece of gold.”

“We could go treasure hunting,” she says. “And if we unearth buried gold, we keep it a secret.”

“Fifty-fifty split,” Chase agrees. “No one else knows.”

Qilan lowers the shell from her ear and slips it into her pocket, just as Chase unceremoniously scoops water into his palms and flings it at her, seawater dripping along her face and sliding down her hair, droplets soaking into the fabric of her clothes. 

“You can also do this along beaches,” he says, grinning. 

“Really, now?” Qilan says slowly, dropping her skirts into the water, where they float along the top of the waves. She methodically rolls one of the white sleeves of her blouse to her elbow. Chase’s grin falters, his perpetual sixth sense setting in, as he begins backing slowly away. 

“Sunshine?” he says.

“Hm?” Qilan says innocently, as she rolls her other sleeve up.

“Are you mad?”

“Now,” she says, tone still pleasant as she stalks towards Chase, “Why on earth would I be?”

“I just have the strangest feeling that you might be,” he says, still inching away with every step she takes towards him. “But that couldn’t be right, could it? We get along so well. We’re partners.”

“You should always listen to your instincts.” Qilan smiles. “Just so you know, I’ve never lost a race.”

She doesn’t even finish speaking before Chase bolts, and she breaks into a run after him. They splash through the shallow tides, wet sand sticking to their feet, water foaming around them. It’s childish, more childish than she has ever acted in years. And for a single, brief moment, she’s home again.

[holycrowe]

Me: so Grognak meets this guy LIL CAPP who tries to sign them to his record label but he also kinda has a crush on them? Anyway some shenanigans ensue with the help of Grognak's friends Dawn and Sherri they run down to the pier where Sheri and Dawn try to get Lil Cap and Grognak together. But Grognak's real crush is already there, Troy, who was lured down to the pier under the pretenses they were kidnapped. Dawn and Sherri, sensing this love triangle, decide to have a little Bachelorette style show and summon friends of theirs down to participate and win Grognak's heart. There's a colorful, strange assortment of contestants but the important ones are Lil Cap, Troy whom Grognak flirts with the entire time, and Anto. Anto is a fellow Irishman who has hit on Grognak in the past but received no attention.

Then a mysterious masked man comes along and tries to woo Grognak. It's very awkward and the two have no chemistry. Anto gets really jealous and assumes Grognak is really into this masked man and kidnaps him. Anto takes him to a crane where Dawn attempts to save him. Grognak takes their sweet time getting to the crane, taking a break at Burger Shot to get some food. Eventually Grognak finally gets there, scales the crane, and very poorly talks Anto down. Grognak reveals he actually likes Troy and he was the winner of the bachelorette not this masked man. Anto swears to find this Troy guy and then the cops run in and save them all. Lil Cap heroically saves some people. This is overlooked as soon as Grognak realizes Troy is there.

Grognak hangs out with a girl named Posy, Grog's long lost sister. They have some fun around town and meet up with Troy. Around this time Steven, a guy who also loves Grognak but was once used monetarily by Groggers, has been seeding doubt into Troy's mind about Goggers, whether or not they like him. Steven also helps them get to a free plane ride they won somehow only to find out Anto was there!!! He begins throwing Posy, Troy, and Steven out of the plane and demands Grognak marry him! Grognak agrees but then demands money and a car. Then forgets they were married a week later.

This boils over eventually after Troy finds out Grognak is married and mopes around. They're hanging out with Dawn, Posy, and Troy. Troy and Anto throw some words around over the phone and are gonna fight. Anto stalks them a little as Troy broods around, ready for a fight. Then Anto shows up and pulls a gun on Troy, kidnapping him and driving him off towards an air field, forcing him to call Grognak to say he's leaving for Mexico to be with his secret family there forever.

This all comes to a head when dawn drives them all to the air field where Anto gets out with Troy, ready to kill him. Then Grognak rolls up like no!! Wait!! And then Troy and Anto strike a deal. They have a duel. If Troy wins Anto and Grognak are divorced. If Anto wins, they stay married and Troy never speaks to Grognak again. Before the duel starts Troy turns to Grognak like "you're not a prize to be won is this okay with you? I love you" only for Anto to punch him in the head and make him start the duel. They do the whole thing, back to back and step ten paces. Troy only has a pistol and Anto has an assault rifle. Despite this heavier firepower Anto misses for the most part only hitting him in the shoulder, Troy jumps out of the way of the bullets and headshots Anto with one clean shot, winning the duel. They all part ways and Grognak never returns, finally set free.

The sad part is that Troy has moments later where he drives to a secluded place and tries to call Grognak, only to get no answer. He also talks to Posy about it, how much they miss them and all that.

My husband:

[stillgeekingout]

I was gonna be like "would you believe it's my 10th one of these" but apparently tumblr has a CHARACTER LIMIT now????? why would they nerf me on the year I decided not to worry about how long it was

anyway I guess I'm splitting this in 2 so reflections on 2023 part one~

let's start with work bc then I want to be done with it: I spent all year doing trainings (& 2 conferences) and researching and preparing to apply for an advisor position if it ever opened up. it did open up in spring, I applied and did not get it, the new advisor was not good and got fired, I applied again having done much more training and still did not get it, I applied for a different advisor position trying to triumphantly leave my office and did not get that either. so now I’m still in my same position working under the person who beat me for the job but this time with a bunch of extra responsibility that I gave myself trying to prep to be promoted. lol. if I sound very bitter it’s because I am :)))) 

all that being said, I do still mostly like my job from day to day. and I still want to do advising, probably. if they’ll ever hire me for it

related to work but less bitter: I had mostly good relationships with my coworkers. one of them was pregnant for a lot of the year and just had her baby last week and I’m very excited to meet her (we went to her baby shower despite all her friends being Very Christian lol it was a time) (this coworker is uhhhh A Lot but it’s complicated lol). I got to be on the hiring committee for another coworker which was a cool experience and also she is very nice. got closer with another coworker who I previously had kind of a tenuous relationship with (and now she works fully remote so it doesn’t even matter) (jk)

another thing I did in my quest to Be Hireable was basically take over supervising the student leaders (work study students) at work. shoutout to esteban, isa, aar and sheri lol

I have inherited my mother’s trait of getting attached to problem children. there are several students who are a recurring Thorn In My Side but also I’m rooting for them

last work thing that is only tangentially a work thing: I became the advisor for GSA at my campus and now I have a bunch of queer college students under my wing. a few of us walked in pride which was my first time being in the parade and it was wild. also we had an event for trans awareness week and I am proud of them for coming up with it :)) more exciting things to come this year. feels good to have a little corner where I can provide support in the face of so many attacks from the FL govt

let’s get the other big bad thing out of the way! my mental health was shit lol. I briefly was doing virtual appointments with a therapist in the spring but it mostly just made me feel weird and untherapizable. (as in, I didn’t feel like I was getting much out of it but I think part of that was that it was zoom calls from my car on my phone during lunch breaks) although it did lead to me leaving my phone outside of the bedroom at night and putting timers on my apps which I think have been net positives even if they haven’t made as much of a difference as I hoped. 

the aforementioned job stress was a huge part of it, the application process lasted like 2 months and then they left me on the hook after the interview for Multiple Weeks which was. a bad time.

another part of it was I was alone a lot on weekends and I’m not very good at using my time off to do fun and nice things when I’m by myself, usually I end up just stewing in my brains. I did try to get in the habit of occasionally going to these nice gardens near us so maybe I will do that more this year also.

also health related: got my first mammogram this year. it was uncomfortable but fine. also got my first pap smear which was QUITE PAINFUL AND UNPLEASANT but I did survive it

also tangentially health related: I tried a few times throughout the year to do yoga. for a lil bit I was doing it with some coworkers after work once a week. some of it I did with some people from the carry on discord. it was very intermittent but better than nothing at all!

last health thing: my dad’s siblings had an Exceptionally Shitty Summer. one of his sisters died, another of his sisters had an extreme staph infection and was in the hospital for weeks, and one of his brothers had a mini stroke and possibly also a heart attack? the latter two are doing okay now but it was rough for a minute there

ENOUGH BAD STUFF I turned 30 this year! three full decades on this earth

Ingrid got her work authorization and a job and later in the year her green card!

I paid off my car (and also my car is having a lot of minor problems but that’s just… having a car)

I made a few financial mistakes (messed up our taxes, accidentally got a best buy credit card) but they are hopefully still fixable and overall we still saved money by the end of the year. we tried to keep a budget for a while but it was hard to keep up with. we also tried to join a credit union but their customer service was really weird

made a halfhearted attempt at local politics (went to a few protests, one city planning thing, and one socialist alternative meeting)

stay tuned for part 2 since tumblr hates me apparently

[kris-mage-fics]

Five Comfort Characters, Five Tags

Tagged by @georgiedoesntfloat - This was way harder then I expected because I had to decide what a 'comfort character' even means to me! (Also, I'm not tagging anyone because I tired from editing and this has been sitting in my drafts for days. So if you see this and want to do it too, awesome, consider yourself tagged!) 1) Falkor from The Neverending Story

My sister and I watched the movie a lot when we were kids, and we both loved Falkor so freaking much! He somehow made me feel like things would be okay, both in the story, and even in my own life. Which, frankly, was something I desperately needed growing up. (If you also loved this movie, I highly recommend reading the book! The movie only covers the first 40% or so of the book.) 2) Sarah from The Labyrinth

This was another movie we watched a lot. Looking back I think Sarah was a good hero for me, and in some ways I really related to her. She was another character that made me feel like I could defeat the odds against me and come out the other side. 3) Cove Holden from Our Life: Beginning & Always

This was the first VN I played, I didn't even know what visual novels were when I started playing it! At the time I found it, I was going through a lot in my life, and playing it a billion times helped me work through some really big things. Cove is so kind and really supportive of the MC, the friendship between the two of them is really lovely. Cove, and this game, literally changed my life for the better in multiple ways. 4) Haron Milirose from Ebon Light

Haron's brother, Ernol, may be my favorite romance in the game, but Haron is my comfort character. He's positive, sweet, and flirty in a way I actually think is fun. The MC goes through some shit in this game, and Haron is a ray of sunshine through it all - and he calls her "shining light"! This assassin-in-training takes the honor of being the subject of the first fan fic I wrote. Yes, this was the game that pushed me to start writing, and it's the game that first put the idea in my head that someday I could make my own game. (If you can't read the text, it says: "I said that in complete innocence, madralee." Trust me, his comment prior to this was not completely innocent.)

5) Red Antiqua from Shepherds of Haven (but almost tied with him for comfort characters are: Shery Acquell, Trouble Alder, Caine Tavadon, and Mimir.)

First off I love all the characters in Shepherds of Haven so much, but only some of them would I consider comfort characters. Red very narrowly wins over the rest in the comfort character category. I can't feel bad when I'm playing a scene with Red in it. His kindness, maturity, gentleness, and nerdy infodumps about magic always cheer me up. Red's a bit of a flirt too, but in a different way than Haron. He's another character that makes me feel like things will be okay, even though sometimes the MC has to reassure him since he's a worrier. (This is only part of a beautiful fan art by @stilwaterbutcher of Red and her lovely character, Guinevere. Please go look at the full piece! Y'all have no idea how hard it was to pick only one fan art of Red to use, there are so many stunning pieces out there!)

[shepherds-of-haven]

Happy New Year, everyone! I thought it would be fun to do a little retrospective on the game's progress over the last year... Shepherds of Haven has grown so much from the little demo I posted in January 2018, and it continues to steadily build and flourish in so many different and exciting ways! Here's a look at just some of the things we accomplished in 2023!

I added 143,151 words to the game (2.5 main chapters, 8 new character interludes) in 2023: the equivalent of writing the longest Lord of the Rings book in one year! We also broke our huge 1 million word milestone—without including code—meaning Shepherds of Haven is now officially twice as long as War and Peace, and almost as long as the entire 7-book Harry Potter series... and all in a single game!

A lot goes into game creation behind the scenes, including the coordination and creation of visual assets for the game—like character cards, codex entries, maps, portraits, and backgrounds—fun stuff for the fans (like the MC info template we created), and songs for the official soundtrack. As the game creeps slowly and determinedly towards its initial completion, that also means learning new things as a solo developer to prepare for the future, like learning to build an official website, researching business and tax practices, and beginning to think about how to conduct testing, publishing, and marketing down the road. Much of what I enumerate here hasn't been made public yet and will continue to cook in the background for a while, but I'm very proud of the work I've gotten done this year and will be excited to unveil more in the future!

And of course, for even more Shepherds of Haven content, I've added and completed even more stories for our little library on Patreon (which also has sizable word count at this point): The Bridge of Bones (a Trouble and Riel murder mystery), O Happy Dagger (a dark adventure featuring Briony, Chase, and Red), and The Hunt (a wild tale involving Tallys, Halek, Shery, and new kinds of spirits, fey magic, and Elves) were all serial stories completed in 2023, while Some Kind of Virus is a cyberpunk zombie apocalypse AU that will continue to be updated with new chapters monthly.

A full list of the Shepherd short stories and serial novellas (with links) can be viewed here!

I hope you enjoyed this session of Shepherds of Haven Wrapped! Honestly, this doesn't actually cover everything I've been working on, but some things can't be packaged and listed out neatly, or otherwise won't seem very interesting to anyone else but me! 😂 As we inch through Chapter 9 and get more interludes done (only a few more main chapters to go), I'm hopeful that I'll also be able to find time to work on my next novel, but we'll see if the Shepherds schedule ends up ramping up or settling down as we work steadily towards finishing the main story!

One important thing before wrapping up is to acknowledge your guys' role in this wonderful, wild journey. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you for your invaluable contributions to the development of Shepherds of Haven. Whether you took the time to share links to the game, supported its growth on Discord or Patreon, left encouraging messages or asked interesting questions, reported bugs, or showcased your remarkable works of fanfiction or fanart, I am sincerely thankful for the unwavering support from this amazing community! Your collective efforts have played a pivotal role in shaping the world of the game into what it is today. Words cannot adequately convey my gratitude for your support, and I am truly blessed to have such a passionate community surrounding this project.

As we step into 2024, I am filled with anticipation for the developments awaiting Shepherds of Haven. Big things are on the horizon, and I am so excited to share these experiences with you! Thank you for being an integral part of this journey, and here's to the continued growth of our shared little world. Cheers to 2024—may it be a year filled with creativity, adventure, and joy! 🎊

[vermutandherring]

Oh Sheri, I missed you so much…

I can't believe that our meeting will take place so soon. It seems like just yesterday that I finished Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, even though it was several years ago. For myself, I defined this game as a reward for the term paper, which I wrote despite depression and internal burnout. Yes, video games are a bad panacea for serious problems. But sometimes they can provide temporary incentives and force you to move forward despite the difficulties. I'm currently writing a lot of educational work, so I don't have much inspiration to write reviews. But I will definitely do a review on Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, because it is one of those games that few people have heard of, that you come across by accident, but have a lot of fun.

'Oh, I love it when you act so recklessly. Was it Limoges porcelain?' Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One

A demo version of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is now available on Steam. You can go through a short investigation in the walls of a psychiatric clinic, behind the vaunted walls of which something is happening. I've never been a huge fan of Howard Lovecraft's work, which the game is inspired by. But I feel that I will still have to expand my horizons and get to know Lovecraft more before playing the game. Moreover, in fact, this game is not new at all. The original Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened was released in 2007, when I, due to my age, did not know about Lovecraft or Frogwares (the developers). As mentioned in the demo, this is currently a raw form, which will still be refined. This is immediately noticeable, as well as the fact that the game is very similar to the previous part in all its mechanics. Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with that. It cannot be that every released game is revolutionary. Sometimes we need simple stories that take their turn alongside the geniuses of the gaming industry.

Nevertheless, there are still differences. The first thing that catches your eye is the atmosphere. Against the background of what is happening in my country, I periodically want to return to the magical story of Chapter One, walk through the sunny streets of the Cordona, filled with the aroma of coffee, discover collectibles and costumes that I missed for various reasons. After all, just admire the charm of young Holmes, narcissistic and naive, who has yet to become the greatest detective. The Awakened, in turn, is very gloomy and depressing. At one point, walking through the corridors made of gray cobblestone, I caught flashbacks from my childhood, when I played Return to castle Wolfenstein. Maybe because Wolfenstein settled in my childhood imagination as something creepy, mysterious, enclosed in dark walls made of rough stone. The Awakened also has this air of mystery, but its occultism is still just a nice wrapper for a scary story made by human hands, not magic.

In this respect, the game is very similar to its literary inspiration. Reading The Hound of the Baskervilles many years ago, I really didn't want it all to turn into some sort of mystical delusion. I don't like when magic and the occult are used to explain plot holes, because it only increases the number of flaws in the story, and shows its creators as people with limited imagination. Ever since the announcement, I didn't really like the idea of adding an element of mysticism to the game. But now that I have a little more visual material, I'm looking forward to doing this investigation.

I don't like to talk about mechanics in games, because it's often a matter of taste. But in this case, it will be appropriate to talk about this aspect of the work. For the demonstration, the developers chose a very good part of the story, which will give you a full test of Sheri's mind and abilities. Passing it will be much easier if you have played the previous game or are familiar with it. In some of the reviews of Chapter One, I encountered criticism regarding the complexity and obscurity of the investigation system. I can't say for sure why some people can master it, and others can't add 2+2. So should I disappoint or please you - The Awakened uses the same mechanics as Chapter One. In a very short span, the game lets you experience it to its fullest. This amount of parts and mechanics to work out can make this short playthrough a little difficult. I had to run back and forth for a good half hour to understand what I should do to untangle the logical chain. I remembered something, I had to learn something again. But in general, after revealing all the secrets, I was satisfied with the game (and myself).

Yes, I just LOVE picking locks in games. It seems that this system looked different in the previous part of the series.

Even in this small piece, the developers left a reference to the previous part of the game, which combines the 2 games into a single story. Although I want to complain a little about Sheri. He's obviously a bit older in this piece (just look at his stubble in the trailers), but his character still feels just as youthful. Maybe it's because of the performance of the voice actor, who was also very nice to hear again. As I already said, not every game has to be brilliant down to the last detail. But each story has its own protagonist's path - a test that should change him. It is not felt at the moment. However, I don't want to judge a game when it's not yet fully released. So I look forward to the opportunity to investigate a new case.

I've also met a lot of complaints about Sherlock's appearance: too young, too emo, too sweet and not like himself. I don't understand this. Why do you want him to look like a 40-year-old balding man? His looks are one of the reasons I decided to play the game.

[compo67]

11, 20, 25, 26 for the first installment of Photo Op, please?

Hello anon! Thank you so much for this ask. :D

11. Was there a scene that you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

Oooh let me think back. I think I hadn't originally planned to include the scene explaining why Jared was at the bar at the Dallas convention. Jensen saw him there and assumed he was 21+. But we didn't know why Jared was there. I included a scene later that explained it--Jared was getting club soda for someone who spilled a drink over their dress. Ever the gentleman, Jared.

20. What is something you wish more people noticed about this fic?

Hmm. I wish more people noticed how much work Sheri put into raising Jared on her own. I also wish I had fleshed that out a bit more.

25. Is there anything you would change now about this fic? Why or why not?

I went through and made some big edits in the last few years, which I think really helped it. But overall, I wouldn't change anything. I think it all works together and I worked really hard to achieve that. I like their age difference and the impact it makes on their relationship. I like how they slot together over time. I love that Jensen knew he just had to lock Jared down. :)

26. Wild Card! I'll tell you a fun fact about this fic!

Oh gosh. Do I have a fun fact? Hmm. I guess one is that I started this fic on my netbook (not a laptop, a netbook!) while I was at Chicon in 2013. I was just about to meet J2. I was so nervous and yet so invested in this story I wanted to tell.

Thank you again, anon!

[yumegf]

do you think matthew would like to put on silly magic shows because hes a theater kid and he can do cool fire stuff.............

OH MY GAHHHH!!!! OMG OMG OMG SHERI YOU R SO SMART SO SO SO SO SMARTN HE WOULD!!!!!!!! he would totes try to do cool fire tricks to impress her and be like Kaydenwatch closely......*insert flame in hand* *turns hand over* *its gone now* *opens other hand* *ITS THERE* and then do little jazz hands and she would clap and be like YAYYY ^_^ :3!!!!! HEHEBHDEHBJE she would be kind of scared of it at first but get used to it :3!!he would do fun little tricks and show her usually when they get bored or when he just wants to be a big show off aww ^_^ i think he would use his fire stuff a lot and get more comfortable with using it around her maybe he would try to warm her up sometimes by holding hercuz hes using like its fire powers on the lowest setting since its cold......canda..

[sewerfight]

Hey! How are you doing?? Do you have any favourite books? I've really enjoyed the ones you've suggested to me already (roadside picnic & monday starts on saturday)...!!

Hey! I'm doing pretty good, I actually got a crazy amount of reading done recently for the first time in a while. How are you? Read anything good yourself? I'm so happy you read those books and enjoyed them!

Recently I read The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (as you can probably guess from my blog). It's basically this fun Russian folklore romp exploring the idea of the devil and his assistants one day coming to Moscow to put on a magic show. At first it kind of tried my attention as a book because Bulgakov introduces satirical characters like machine gun fire, and changes scenes in a manner that makes you wonder, often, if he's simply forgetful as an author. The reason I recommend it, is because in the end, it always turns out he was never forgetful at all, even if he does occasionally confuse or deliberately mislead. The plot is totally enchanting and beautiful, and it's one of those books that make you see the world anew after reading it. People praise Bulgakov for his use of comedy, but his prose and breadth of historical knowledge is otherworldly too, enough to make you believe in magic, God, and the devil. At least temporarily.

I also read Grass by Sheri S Tepper. It's this incredibly nuts science fiction novel about a planet called Grass. Which, you guessed it: is entirely covered in grass. Sounds boring? It's actually totally thrilling in this specific, deeply immersive, entirely compelling manner that leaves you wondering how the hell Tepper pulled it off. I won't reveal too much, but the book is like a combination horse girl's dream/nightmare. And I was amazed to find out that Tepper is by no means a "new" author. She's been writing crazy science fiction shit since the 50s, and yet Grass is so fresh, politically interesting and modern it amazed me! Not for everyone of course, but certainly kept in mind for someone who shares my love for the Strugatsky brothers' body of work

[affinitystoryblog]

Affinity - Book 1: Connections Ch. 01 ROUGH DRAFT

Story: Affinity

Author: affinitystoryblog

THIS IS A WIP

Summary: Sinie's every day life is about to change when a mysterious transfer student shows up at her school...A girl who looks just like her. Csilla Beauchene is a classy, sweet, shy girl from the city that instantly connects with Sinie Castellano based on their shared necklaces that are imbued with magical properties. The girls must now find a way to awaken their powers and fight to save themselves from the evil hunting them down.

DISCLAIMER: This work is written in a simple formatted way that may be kind of hard to understand right now, but this story is going to be a webcomic so this is rly only written for me and my beta readers to understand. detail varies in areas. thank you!

----------------------

Sinie wakes up from her sleep, recalling a dream she had moments ago. It was hazy, but the vision of a woman sitting at a throne weeping. Sinie didn't know what to do about this dream, so she brushed it aside like she did for a lot of her dreams. 

She sat up from where she laid and looked at her phone. 7:15 a.m. Time to get up. Slinging her legs over the side of the bed, Sinie got dressed, brushed her hair and teeth, and put on her favorite crystal necklace.

[focus on necklace, Sinie staring at it fondly, rubbing her thumb against the gem]

"Sinie! Breakfast is ready!" Sheri, Sinie’s mom, calls from downstairs

Sinie heads downstairs and sits at the table next to her little sister Anna. Anna is already stuffing her face with pancakes, eggs, and bacon, while their father, David, sipped on his coffee while reading the news on his tablet. Anna muffled a ‘morning’ with a mouth full of food.

[introduce david and anna]

“Oh, looks like we’re going to have a blood moon coming up.” David announced, his tablet screen on an article about an upcoming blood moon.

Sinie immediately perked up. “WHAT? WHEN?? YAY!!! I’ve gotta get my crystals and tell Granny!”

Sheri set a plate of breakfast in front of Sinie and sighed,  “Sinie, honey, you know I support your interests, but you also know how my mother…Overdoes it for her ‘holidays’.”

[introduce sheri]

Sinie furrowed her brow, “I think what she does is fun.”

“It’s dangerous and I don’t want you exposed to witchcraft.” Sheri said gently, pinching Sinie’s cheek.

Sinie sighed, sulked back in her chair and poked at her food. “It’s just a little magic.” She grumbled.

“Sinie.” Sheri said firmly without looking at her daughter. What she said was final.

[panel of an awkward silence while Sinie picks at her food, annoyed, while David awkwardly sips on his coffee and Anna has a funny welp face]

After breakfast Sinie walked out the door of her house and into town. She passed many shops before she met up with her best friend Daren. 

“Morning!” He greeted

“Mornin’!” Sinie replied cheerfully

[introduce daren]

The two walked to the nearby coffee shop so they could down some coffee and donuts on their way to school. As they walked in, the girl at the counter greeted them.

"Hey, it’s my favorite Sunrise students! What'll it be today?" The server asks them.

“Morning Daisy.” Daren greeted her back. “Any specials today?” He asked.

“No special deals per say, but we do have a new pastry available.” Daisy said, pointing to the display case where many delicious looking pastries sat. 

Daren and Sinie stared at where the cashier pointed. “It’s a German chocolate cronut topped with coconut shavings and two dark chocolate bars. It’s a bit rich, but the bittersweet flavors go well with coffee; iced, cold brew, or hot.”

“Hmmm…” Daren thought, staring at the cronut. 

Sinie was practically drooling at the sight. “Daren get one and split it with me!” She said excitedly.

Daren chuckled, “You don’t want one?” They asked in amusement.

Sinie whined, “You know what bitter chocolate does to my teeth! Also I really want a mochi donut.” She had pleading eyes.

Daren smiled at his best friend and playfully rolled his eyes. “Okay fine, I do want to try it. But that means you pay for my coffee.” He winked.

Sinie nodded and smiled.

The two made their order and waited for Daisy to prepare it. 

Soon she appeared with their order,

“Alright kids! I have three mochi donuts, strawberry, yogurt, and churro for little miss Sinie along with a cinnamon cold brew coffee. And for Daren, our new german chocolate cronut and his usual hazelnut macchiato with an extra espresso shot.”

Daren and Sinie smiled to confirm their satisfaction with their order, Sinie waving goodbye to Daisy with a smitten expression. They made their way to their esteemed private school, Sunrise Academy, Sinie sipping happily on her coffee. [draw hearts around her head] 

“You know she’s too old for you.” Daren said, teasing.

 “I’m a young woman.” Sinie stated through slitted eyes

Daren scoffed a little, “Sinie you’re in high school, she’s a senior in college. We probably look like babies to her.” He took a sip of his macchiato 

She nudged him with her elbow, “Don’t act all high and mighty just because you’re already 18. We’re both in high school.” She stuck her tongue out as he chuckled at her frustration.

The two friends arrived at school, joking and laughing alongside each other, carefree. They said their goodbyes at some point as they had two different homerooms. Sinie sipped on her coffee as she walked to her locker. Once there, she got her things around for her morning classes.

Then her vision was cast in black. 

"Sinie~ Guess who!" A high pitched, bubbly voice called out.

Sinie smiled. "Elise!" 

Elise released her hands from Sinie's eyes with a giggle.

[introduce elise]

The two then walked to their homeroom class together, talking about manga. As they entered the classroom a tall, thin girl approached them.

"My darling!" She cried

"My honey!" Elise replied

The two girls embraced and rubbed noses as Sinie smiled beside them.

[introduce Heather]

"Ahem" A harsh voice broke up the sweet moment. "Are you girls supposed to be displaying PDA in the classroom?"

"Sorry Mrs Terris." The two mumbled

"And Sinie, are you supposed to have that drink? Throw it away immediately." The teacher demanded.

Sinie pouted, but chugged the rest of her coffee before throwing away the cup.

"Everyone take your seats, class is about to start." Mrs Terris commanded the students

The bell rang, morning announcements going underway. As the homeroom started, Mrs Terris looked at the class.

"So, before we start, I have my own announcement. Miss Beauchene, please come to the front of the class."

[show a figure of a girl walking to the front, don't show face]

Sinie looked up to the girl now standing in front of the class, her eyes widened, setting her sights on her. 

[show face of girl]

It was like looking in a mirror.

Everyone then looked from the girl to Sinie, thinking the same thing.

"Please introduce yourself."

"I'm Csilla Beauchene, my name is the Hungarian spelling for ‘star’ but it’s pronounced as the name Sheila. I'm new to Sunrise, but I hope we can make a lot of fond memories together." She smiled kindly and bowed slightly.

Everyone looking at Csilla now looked at Sinie again, smirking.

"Wow, she's nothing like you, Sinie." A classmate said,

Sinie and Csilla then made eye contact, Sinie feeling her heart pound

"Thank you miss Beauchene. You may take your seat." Mrs Terris said.

Csilla took her seat once again, and class started. She was a bit far from Sinie, however Sinie was too excited. She had a doppelganger! Sinie began to write in her notebook, ripping out the section and folding it up into a small square. She handed it to Elise, who was sitting next to her, urging her to toss it to Csilla. Elise gave a thumbs up in acknowledgement. Csilla was still a little ways away from Elise, however the shot landed right on the girl's desk.

Sinie and Elise made a victory sign at each other.

Csilla looked in the direction of where the paper came flying, seeing Elise and Sinie looking at her with big eyes. [in this frame, you can see Heather staring at Csilla]

Csilla opened the note and it read:

"Doppelganger! Did you steal my face?" [a little doodle in the corner of a Sinie head with no face.]

Csilla glanced back at Sinie, then to the front of the class, making eye contact with Mrs Terris as the teacher turned around, still continuing with her lecture. Once eye contact broke, Csilla wrote a reply for Sinie, taking a hair band from her wrist and using it to launch the note to Sinie. 

It landed safely in Sinie's lap.

"SCORE!" Sinie yelled.

"Miss Castellano, care to explain why you're interrupting my class?" Mrs Terris asked unamused

"Uhh..." Sinie quickly picked up her phone which was placed on her desk. "A game?" She smiled nervously.

Mrs Terris stared Sinie down for a long time. She then turned back to the board.

"Make sure you study hard on your own if you want to space out during class. I'm not going to be the one your parents yell at when you fail." She wrote on the board.

Sinie sighed, then quickly opened Csilla's reply. It read: "I'm here to steal your identity" with another doodle of Csilla herself, a little lacking in quality compared to Sinie's doodle.

Sinie laughed to herself at this reply, liking Csilla's response.

[SCENE CHANGE] 

Sinie tried to get Csilla's attention all morning, however after that initial reply, Csilla seemed to ignore her advances. It didn't help that they didn't have all their classes together.

At lunchtime, Sinie looked all around the school for Csilla. She eventually found her in the quartyard, sitting on the grass with a homemade lunchbox. 

"Csilla!" Sinie called out

She approached Csilla as Csilla took notice of her. 

"Castellano?" Csilla asked

"Wow, no one but the teachers call me by my last name." Sinie rubbed the back of her head. "But hey! Wanna have lunch with me and my friends? We usually eat in the cafeteria."

Csilla looked down at her homemade lunchbox. She looked around to make sure no one else was watching, then pulled Sinie to the side. 

"Whoa hey!" Sinie yelped

"Shh." Csilla whispered. "I know this may be weird right now, but I have to talk to you."

Csilla takes a deep breath. 

"Would you believe me if I told you I've seen you in my dreams?"

Sinie gasped, bringing her hands to her cheeks. 

"We've never met before, but I know you. I've lived your life through these dreams, your father is a hard working accountant for a small company, your mother is a preschool teacher, and you have a little sister."

Sinie gasped louder, "Are you a magic fairy!?" 

Csilla chuckled and shook her head. "No, I just have a lot of weird dreams...I've recorded all of them in my dream journal."

"Wow! I have a dream journal too! I have a lot of intense dreams and I like to know the meaning behind them, so I jot them down."

Csilla smiled. Then she looked down at what Sinie was wearing around her neck and gasped. 

She then reached into her shirt and pulled out the same exact crystal on a different necklace. Sinie also gasped seeing this, her eyes wide. She took off her choker and held it up to Csilla’s necklace. The girls held their necklaces closer together, a ringing noise beginning to make its way into their ears and the crystals began to glow. 

Cautiously both of them looked at each other, then touched fingertips. 

They suddenly both got flashes of each other's lives in their minds, all of Csilla's memories flooding into Sinie's mind and vice versa. However, there were more flashes; of two women, a village of mysterious people, a giant tree in the middle of a grove, and one of the women crying on a throne.

Once the flashes ended the girls gasped and fell to the ground. They came to their senses and stared at each other, wondering what happened. 

"So..." Sinie starts, panting a little. "Lunch with me and my friends?"

Csilla smiled.

[SCENE CHANGE]

Sinie and Csilla walk into the cafeteria, Sinie scanning the room for her friends. Then she found a small round table that they were sitting at. She urged Csilla to follow her, and Csilla did. They approached the table.

"Guys! This is Csilla! Elise, Heather, you remember her." Sinie introduced, gesturing to Csilla.

Csilla waved sheepishly.

Heather greeted the girl with open arms as Elise pulled up another chair for Csilla to sit. 

"She's new." Sinie said to Daren.

Daren stared at Csilla for a long time in awe. 

"Don't they look so much alike!" Heather interjected.

"It's like I'm looking at twins!" exclaimed Elise.

"Yeah. Wow." Daren said, almost in disbelief.

"We also have the same necklace, check it out!" Sinie cried, displaying her own necklace.

Csilla was shy about revealing her necklace at first, but pulled it out. 

"Whoa! Sinie, I thought yours was one of a kind!" Elise cried

"So did I!" Sinie replied

"I've had this since I was a baby." Csilla started. "I used to ask my parents where they got it, but they said they found me with it."

"Found you?" Daren asked.

"Yeah, I was found on the street by my parents. I'm adopted." Csilla replied.

Heather, Elise and Daren looked at each other for a moment in disbelief.

"Sinie, you're adopted too, right?” Heather asked.

Csilla then turned to Sinie with wide eyes. "You are?" She asked.

"Yeah! I was in an orphanage until I was 6, then my mom and dad adopted me. I don't know who my real parents are." Sinie shrugged.

Elise then gasped really loud and lunged herself forward onto the table. 

"Could it be!? You two are long lost twins!?"

"Come on Elise, this isn't a movie." Daren said unamused.

"YOU come on! Csilla has the same one of a kind necklace that Sinie has, and Sinie has had that necklace for as long as we've known her." Elise said

"I've had it since I was born." Sinie chimed in.

"Plus you two look TOTALLY the same!" Elise said.

Sinie and Csilla looked at each other. They then looked down at their crystal shard necklaces, then back to each other. They stared for a long time. Csilla was the first to look away. 

"It's...possible. But how did we get so far from each other? I just moved to this town from the city where I've lived my whole life. Sinie have you been here your whole life?" Csilla asked

Sinie thought for a moment. "Yep! Sometimes I still volunteer at the orphanage I lived in, it's right by the downtown park."

"Sinie likes to play with the younger kids." Heather said.

"I see..." Csilla said, thinking.

"Well, either way it is weirdly coincidental but I don’t think it’s anything fantastical at work.” Daren said, taking one last bite of his lunch.

The bell then rang, signaling lunch was over. 

"NOOO!'' Sinie cried. "I spent so much time looking for you that I didn't get a chance to eat!!" she began to cry in Csilla's bosom.

"Please, let me have some of your home cooked lunch box!"

Csilla smiled pitifully at the other girl. 

"Come one Sinie, you can eat when school is over." Daren said, gathering his things from the table.

"But i'm so hungryyyy!!" Sinie cried.

"Yes we know, you're a growing girl." Elise said, putting her lunch tray into the washable dishes pile. "But youre gonna get in trouble if you eat in the hallway, and we have to get to class."

Sinie and co walked out of the lunch room, Sinie sulking.

[SCENE CHANGE]

The day went on as normal, Sinie waving goodbye to Elise and Heather after school was over and they were heading their separate ways.

"Sorry, I have to help out at home today. I can't hang out." Daren said with an apologetic look.

"It's okay! Tell everyone I said hi!" Sinie replied.

She then took off to look for Csilla, looking around the school grounds for her once again. She walked down hallways, checking every classroom she could. She walked past the staff room, peaking in. She then spotted Csilla talking to Mrs Terris. 

"Csilla!" Sinie called out loudly into the room.

Everyone in the vicinity jumped, and teachers jumped on the chance to scold Sinie for her behavior. Csilla said her goodbyes to Mrs Terris and came over to Sinie. 

"Is something wrong?" She asked

.

The two walked away from the staff room.

"Nope! I was just gonna ask if you were free today." Sinie chirped

.

"Well, my papa told me to come straight home after school today, but I don't mind playing hooky." Csilla smiled.

"You seem so prim and proper, you sure you wanna disobey your dad?" Sinie said

Csilla giggled. "I just like to have fun. So what's up?"

"Well...I was hoping you'd go somewhere with me. I think...we can get some answers."

"Answers?"

"About us." Sinie looked her in the eyes.

Csilla stared back, then nodded. She followed Sinie out of school and down the roads and streets. The two walked for a few blocks before they came into a small neighborhood.

"Are we meeting someone?" Csilla asked.

"Yeah!" Sinie replied. "You're gonna love her."

Csilla felt a bit nervous, but pushed those feelings down.

The two came up one of the homes' driveway

 [show house]

Sinie knocked loudly on the door. 

A large, old woman answered the door.

"Sunshine!" She exclaimed with her arms open. 

"Granny Witch!" Sinie cried, embracing the old woman.

[introduce Granny]

"I haven't seen you in a while, you grow more beautiful every day." Granny Witch smiled tenderly. 

The old woman then noticed Csilla.

"And who do we have here?"

"Ah, Granny, this is Csilla! She's new in town!"

Csilla curtsied and said her greetings.

Granny Witch whistled at her sophisticated greeting. 

"Hello Csilla. You can call me Granny if you like." She smiled, then turned to Sinie. "So what brings you to me sunshine?"

"Actually granny...we wanted to know if you could help us." Sinie said shyly

"Is someone bothering you two?" She asked.

Sinie giggled. "No, nothing like that. Besides, I think Elise and Daren would beat up anyone who messed with me." She said proudly.

"Actually, it's a little more...complicated." Csilla spoke, pulling out her necklace. 

Granny Witch looked closely at the crystal shard, then to Sinie’s choker.

. 

"Come on in, I'll make you two some tea."

Sinie and Csilla walked into the home, smelling of incense.

[show interior of home]

The two sit down on the couch, a small gray cat jumping onto Sinie's lap.

"Starlight!" Sinie exclaimed, petting the cat.

Csilla scratched under the cat's chin, smiling.

“A beautiful cat." She said tenderly.

"Do you like cats?" Sinie asked.

"My best friend is a cat." She said confidently, then suddenly felt shy, "I know that's kind of weird, but I don't really have any other friends."

"What?"

"All the other girls in my circle just kinda thought I was weird and stopped talking to me eventually." Csilla said nonchalantly

"That's so sad..." Sinie weeped.

“It's fine. Rosemary keeps me genuine company." Csilla smiled.

Granny then came into the living room with a tray of tea with cream, sugar, and lemon slices. She set them down on the coffee table in between the two rococo couches. 

"So, what exactly has you two troubled?" Granny asked after sitting down on the opposite couch.

"Granny, could we be lost twins?" Sinie asked suddenly. "I mean, we're both adopted and have the same necklace. Plus we look exactly alike! It's the only logical explanation!"

Granny thought for a moment. 

"It's possible, and seems like the logical solution, albeit a little far fetched."

"Do you know if we were ever separated at birth?" Csilla asked.

"I don't. When David and Sheri adopted Sinie, she was all alone at the orphanage. She had no other siblings...how were you adopted?"

Csilla explained her story.

"I see." Granny nodded. "May I see your necklaces?"

Sinie took her necklace off without hesitation, while Csilla hesitated a bit. She gripped her necklace and looked at Sinie. Sinie only smiled at her, convincing Csilla to trust her.

Granny took the two necklaces and examined them. she noticed the mysterious shine they seemed to emit. She then held the crystals close to her heart and was silent for a long time. When she finally opened her eyes she looked at the two girls.

"I cannot give you the answers you seek, however I will give you this: there are mystical properties about these gems. I noticed the power in your necklace long ago, Sinie, and to find out there is another piece to this crystal leads me to believe your meeting was nothing short of fate."

"Granny is sensitive to the mystics of the world. It’s why I call her ‘Granny Witch’" Sinie whispered to Csilla. 

Granny handed the girls their necklaces back.

"I don't know what exactly this means, but I think this may be the start of your destinies."

"Destiny?" Csilla asked.

"What that destiny is, I cannot tell you. But Csilla, you were brought to Sinie for a reason. And maybe that reason is about to unfold."

The girls stared in wonder at the old woman.

"Whatever happens, however, I want you two to do what you think is right and never lose sight of each other."

The two concluded their meeting with Granny, waving goodbye at the door and heading to the bus stop.

"Are you sure youll be okay not going home right away?" Sinie asked,

"I think this will be worth the lecture I'll get." Csilla replied. She then looked down to the necklace in her hand, "I never thought my necklace could have mystical properties."

Sinie held up her necklace to the setting sun, looking at the iridescent gem. 

"I never thought mine did either. I've never had magical power before."

"Aside from my weird dreams, neither have I." Csilla replied.

They reached the bus stop.

"You know your new address?" Sinie asked.

"Yes, I memorized it before we even moved. I think if I GPS it, I can work around the bus stops. I'll be home before you know it!" Csilla smiled.

.

Sinie smiled back and, just as they were about to say their goodbyes, an explosion came from around the corner. 

The two girls screamed as the smoke from the explosion began to fill the air. They covered their mouths, coughing from the smoke.

"What was that!?" Csilla cried

"I don't know, but we have to go!" Sinie replied. 

Then, before they could do anything else, the two were bound by ropes, crashing them to the ground. They looked through the smoke and saw two feminine figures walking towards them with ropes. As the smoke cleared, the two revealed themselves as two impish looking women.

The girls stared wide eyed at this. Fire appeared behind the women making her way towards them, only frightening the girls more. 

The imps stopped in front of the girls who were trembling. 

“Wow Calysta, that was much easier than we thought, these mortals are completely harmless.” The taller one cooed.

The chunkier, stout imp giggled. “They’re powerless, Myrtha! They have no magic!” She sang.

Myrtha clicked her tongue. “Tsk tsk tsk, looks like the mortal realm really does kill magic. All the more reason it deserves to go.”

Sinie and Csilla trembled, however Sinie tried to struggle free. 

“What do you want with us!?” She demanded.

“Oooh, she’s got spirit!” Myrtha cooed again.

She reached down to grab Sinie’s necklace.

“Don’t touch her!” Csilla cried.

Myrtha looked to Csilla with a bored expression. Then pivoted her way to face the girl. Csilla was trembling and terrified and had tears in her eyes. Myrtha grinned devilishly then stood up. 

“Well, this mission was way too easy and frankly, I’m disappointed.” She snapped her fingers.

From her side came another woman with a mask covering her face. She was completely silent as she crouched down to the girls and held her hands out to their chests.

Then, out of nowhere, a scimitar flew through the air and caused the masked woman to distance herself from the girls.  The masked woman looked at the sword and then to the other woman that appeared before her, standing in front of Sinie and Csilla.. The new figure stood there as the smoke cleared, the girls catching what she looked like; tall, wide hips, dark skin, and black hair tied into two buns with long side bangs hanging down. 

She turned to the girls, grabbing her scimitar first, then taking both Sinie and Csilla in each arm, picking them up and leaping into the air. The girls screamed as more rope flew at them. The new woman landed on a tall building, at least as tall as buildings were going to get in this part of town, and set the girls down. She cut the ropes binding the girls.

She said nothing as she grabbed both swords at her hips and took a battle stance. The two imps found them and threw more of their black ropes at them. The woman helping the girls let one of the ropes slither around her wrist then struck one of her blades into the rope to pin it to the ground, taking the rope in her hands and pulling Myrtha towards her. 

Myrtha yelped as she was yanked forward. She reached to her side and pulled out a sort of mini trident. She swung at the woman, but was immediately punched in the face and sent flying.

Calysta winced. 

"Yeah! Get her!" Sinie shouted.

"Sinie!" Csilla cried.

Calysta went to help out her fellow imp, fighting the woman on the rooftop. 

"Sinie, what's going on?!" Csilla cried

"I don't know, but it's awesome!" Sinie replied

"Awesome!?" Csilla cried again.

"I mean, it's scary ‘cause I think we were almost kidnapped, but we were rescued!"

Then, Sinie felt a tap on her shoulder. The girls turned around to see the third woman, the masked woman, behind them. She waved a little at them before giving a sort of “magic fingers” motion with her hands, her hands starting to glow.

Csilla winced in fear. 

“Uhhh, hey lady! We could use your help again!” Sinie called out to the woman who saved them, holding Csilla in her arms.

The woman was knocked back by the imps, her arms up in a block. She looked back to the masked woman who was about to use her powers on the girls, then back to her opponents. She then grabbed at Calysta’s ropes the imp flung at her and swung Calysta around, the imp colliding with her sister and the two flying into the masked woman, putting the three of them in a pile on the rooftop.

"Yea woohoo!" Sinie cheered.

The masked woman shoved the imps off of her, Calysta complaining that she could be more gentle. The masked woman stood up. She began to manifest glowing “needles” through her fingertips, the needles growing long and sharp at the tip of her fingertips. (picture this like claws) She lunged at the other woman, the woman putting up both her scimitars in defense. The two went at it, sparks flying between them. 

“Yeah!! Get her!!” Sinie cheered while Csilla covered her eyes in fear, peeking through her fingers.

Then, Calysta snuck up on the girls and grabbed Sinie from behind, Sinie crying out. Csilla shoved the imp off of her friend and dodged Myrtha from her side. The girls began to run around the rooftop in order to escape the imps. (draw this in a simpler, silly style)

“Hey lady, we could use your help again!” Sinie cried out

“Fight to protect yourself!" The woman shouted, not taking her eyes off her opponent, still evenly matched with her.

"Fight!?" Csilla cried.

"How do we fight?" Sinie asked.

"Use the power inside you! Your crystals!"

Sinie looked down at her necklace which was resonating. She gripped it in her hand, concentrating on the power. She felt pulsing through her veins. However, just before she could tap into that power, she heard Csilla scream.

Turning to the noise, she saw the imps had captured Csilla in their ropes. At the same time ropes came around her own body, and she collapsed to the ground. 

She began to wriggle around, struggling to free herself. She looked onto Csilla who was also on the ground, visibly trembling as the smaller imp crouched down at her side with a devilish grin. From her peripheral vision she noticed the lanky imp power walking towards her with an expression that made Sinie’s stomach sink.

“H-Hey! I tried but I could really use your help right now!!” Sinie cried, worry clear in her voice.

The warrior woman saw the two girls struggling, ready to be captured. “Shit!” She mumbled but in her distraction she was knocked to the ground by the masked woman. The masked woman slashed her claws at the other woman, however the warrior used her scimitar as a shield.  "Use your power! Fight!" She shouted amidst trying to ward off the masked woman.

"Sinie...!" Csilla had tears in her eyes now.

Sinie looked back down at her crystal necklace, it was glowing. She concentrated on the feeling she felt a few moments ago, and felt the power surge through her veins.

"I feel it!" She shouted.

"Feel it in your heart! You'll hear the words!" The warrior woman shouted back.

Sinie concentrated harder, and then suddenly her eyes were aglow, and she seemed to radiate light. breaking free of the ropes, a light suddenly surrounded her. 

[draw magical girl transformation]

Sinie looked down at herself, in a completely new outfit.

[full body view of her dress]

"Sinie..." Csilla gawked at her new friend in dazzling awe.

Everyone stood still for a moment in amazement (draw sweat drops on masked woman and myrtha and calysta with panicked expressions)

“She’s harnessed the power of her crystal…” Myrtha grumbled.

“Let’s just take the one who hasn’t yet and get out of here!” Calysta tugged on her sister’s arm.

Myrtha nodded, pulling a key from her bosom. She held the key in the air as it began to grow and sprout giant wings and grow into a long staff. The wings stretched out and had a sort of a galaxy pattern, as if the wings were a window to the universe.

Csilla looked horrified as Calysta dragged her closer to the portal.

"Don't just stand there, save her!" The woman shouted, taking advantage of the distraction she pushed the masked woman off of her.

"But how?!" Sinie cried, "I don't know how to fight!"

"Use your power!" The woman said back

"Sinie!" Csilla cried out to her friend.

Sinie balled her fist, then felt the energy of the crystal, it was still around her neck. she breathed in and out, summoning a sword from the crystal's light.

The imps began to retreat with Csilla, however Sinie was a fast runner, and caught up to them. With her sword she slashed at them, causing them to drop Csilla and dodge the attack. Sinie grabbed Csilla and took her to the other side of the rooftop. She then cut the other girl’s ropes.

"Sinie!” Csilla wrapped her arms around Sinie, Sinie holding her back. “What happened?" Csilla asked in awe.

"I don't know! But, Csilla, I think you can do it too!"

"How?"

"Feel the power in your crystal! Concentrate!"

Myrtha balled her hand into a fist and growled. “Grrr, this is so annoying! Why don’t you little heathens come quietly and we won’t make this any harder.” 

Myrtha’s shadow then began to twist and coil, taking form out of the ground and manifested into a dark shadow creature. 

Calysta giggled, “Oh are we going to beat them up?” She clapped, “Can I, Sissy, can I?” She asked excitedly. Her expression turned sinister as her eyes turned black and her aura manifested dark energy, forming around her body as armor.

Csilla looked horrified while Sinie looked amazed.

“Ready Csilla?” Sinie asked, looking down at the girl she had rescued.

Csilla’s eyes darted from the imps who were now using their own magic, to the women fighting each other, and to Sinie. She was terrified.

Sinie’s expression twisted into a sort of confused sadness. She shook her head, "I’ll fight them off while you figure it out!" Sinie said, charging at the imp sisters.

Unfortunately she was hardly any match for them. She was getting her butt kicked. (draw various panels of Myrtha and Calysta beating her up)

Csilla did her best to calm her nerves and concentrate on the power in her crystal. She began to sweat, her hands trembling as she held the crystal shard in her hand.

"Power....Feel the power..." Her voice also trembled.

The warrior woman glanced at Csilla who was struggling to harness her power, and in this distraction the masked woman knocked her weapons from her hands and kicked the woman to the ground.

Sinie was also not doing so hot, knocked to the ground, sword knocked out of her hands. 

“Enough of this!” Myrtha groaned. “You!” She pointed to the masked woman. “Get this over with.”

The masked woman walked over to Sinie and crouched over her, pinning the girl to the ground with her knees on her shoulders. SInie groaned under her (draw her beat up). Then the masked woman placed her hand over Sinie’s chest and began to extract a bright light, causing Sinie to scream out in pain.

The sight scared Csilla, but ultimately triggered a fight or flight response, in which case she chose to fight. “NO!!”  She cried, her eyes began to glow, as well as her body. a powerful light exploded on the rooftop.

[draw magical girl transformation]

[draw her looking elegant and cool with a full body view of her outfit]

Everyone was shocked, however Myrtha was particularly annoyed while Calysta seemed panicked. 

“Dammit!” Myrtha mumbled under her breath

Csilla then formed her own sword and in one swoosh created a blast of energy to knock down the masked woman and the imps. She walked toward Sinie and helped her up, the warrior woman taking their side, still on the defensive for the others.

"Whoa!" Sinie had starry eyes, "You look so cool!"

"Hehe thanks."

Csilla then looked serious and determined, pointing her sword to their attackers. 

“Sissy, I think we should report this…” Calysta whispered to her sister.

Myrtha clicked her tongue. She tapped her foot on the ground rapidly in irritation. “Abort mission. Report back to the goddess.” Her shadow creature disappeared back into her shadow while Calysta and the masked woman disarmed. Myrtha looked back as she put her hand on the staff, a slight smirk on her face. “Play again.” She said in a sinister voice

The three escaped, the wings that were still there swallowed up the three and then coiled into itself until it disappeared into thin air.

The three left on the roof hopped down onto the sidewalk, noticing people had gathered around a large fire in the park behind the bus stop, as well as a fire truck. Sinie and Csilla's magic wore off and they detransformed, causing the two to be very tired.

The warrior woman approached them. “You two barely managed to get out of that." She said to them.

Sinie pointed, "Hey you were no better! If it weren't for Csilla we'd all be toast."

The woman put her hands on her hips and glared at Sinie.

"Excuse me miss, but...what exactly just happened?" Csilla said, gripping her necklace.

The woman opened her mouth, but was interrupted by the voice of a man.

"Csilla?!"

Csilla turned to see her father getting out of his car and approaching her. 

"Papa?!" 

Her father ran up to her and hugged her close.

[introduce Richard]

"Young lady, why didn't you come home right after school? What are you doing so close to this fire?!"

"Um..." Csilla looked down.

Sinie looked back, hoping the woman would address Csilla's father, but the woman was gone. 

"Um," Sinie spoke up. "I’m sorry sir, but it's my fault..."

Richard glared at Sinie for a second, but once he saw how alike she looked to his own daughter he was taken aback. He began to stammer for words, but Csilla spoke up

"This is my friend, Sinie. We met today at school.” She then downcast her eyes. “I'm sorry Papa…I disobeyed you to come home after school and instead went out with a friend. I will take full responsibility." She hung her head.

Richard, confused more than anything, decided to let Csilla off the hook with just a scolding and offered Sinie a ride, away from the fire.

Sinie declined his offer, saying that she knew a way home that was away from the accident. 

Csilla went home with her father in his fancy car, while Sinie ran home to her own family.

[show outside of home]

She walked in the door, her sister immediately announcing her arrival. 

"Sinie?! Oh my god are you okay!?" Sheri cried, running up to her daughter.

"Yeah I'm fine. Why?" She forced a smile.

"Steph called me and told me there was a big fire on your route home from school. You didn't get caught up in that did you?"

Sinie figured she shouldn't tell her mom about all the things that just happened, and shook her head. 

"Your uniform is so dirty, are you sure you're okay?" Sheri asked, still frantic.

"Oh yeah, Daren and I were just, um, wrestling earlier is all." She smiled awkwardly.

Sheri sighed. "You're going to get in trouble for rough housing on school grounds one of these days young lady. And how many times have I told you not to dirty your uniform? They aren't cheap."

Sinie nodded as her mother went on, tuning her out. She looked down at her necklace. It no longer held that glow, but Sinie could still feel the power pulsating through it when she held it.

[end Chapter 1] 

[void-botanist]

📝❤️&❓- which characters of yours are your favorites to write?

📝 what stages are you currently in your WIPs?

Which one I'm actively working on varies wildly - I've actually been mostly working on kiss scenes (which I'm about 80% done with) and that quasi-canonical Sheri story (which I'm about 25% done with) - but for my 4 main wips:

TFA: trying to dig into Anni and Zel's dynamic and figure out how to tie together Anni and Dez's separate trajectories, thematically or otherwise. They spend a lot of the story in two different places doing two different things. Because of shifting things around I'm not sure how much actually will stay in this draft but let's say I've written like 20% of a full draft.

Triad: haven't actually worked on this one in a while, and I will be starting a new draft when I get back to it. I've been replotting it to make the plot align more with non-romance goals such as stealing birds and also give us more time with Keearo's family.

AOM: like TFA, suffering from "what do you mean I have to write the middle", though to be fair I also haven't been motivated to write most of the beginning stuff in Ensaum because I need a better hook for myself than Colin & Sid's weird doomed romance. The next thing to do is flesh out the dynamics that will be present on Phil's boat when Horatio, Sid, Sorian, and Avis all join her for the trip to Imni. It's not pretty.

Nicea: extremely fragmentary and coming together as I think of more things. Next on my loose list is to write Isabel saying goodbye to Darnell (has Darnell actually gotten married? is he pregnant again? I have many questions) and maybe get back to the sex scene between her and Tatya. I also need to orchestrate a meltdown for Declan and write Spinder working with the engineering bay gear.

❤️ what are your favorite scenes from your WIPs?

AOM: Avis unintentionally making Sorian choke on his water because she needed to be mean Right Now. Also Horatio talking about funerals over toast like it's the most normal thing in the world. Sid's face off against his parents and also his sexy scenes with Colin. Emma fucking tearing into Donovan about the letters the second he comes in the door.

Nicea: Fabian and his vibrator necklace. The scene where Tristan accidentally breaks the gravity. Tatya's introduction. Rodney's adventure to find the keys to Declan's storage unit, mostly because Martin and Kara are my favorites forever. Also probably any scene where someone is having a chat with Tatya. Cady and Declan's various reunion scenes.

TFA: one that hasn't made it into the current draft where Dez is sitting under the stars with Nidilaenn and Ellery and tries rooting for the first time. Vinnek's introduction. Dez getting in trouble for saying bad words at the library. Anni and Zel chatting on the train. Another scene that may or may not happen in the current draft but I feel like it should - Dez talking to Hoven one on one for the first time over translation work. Anni talking books with Mel. Anni making it through customs with Dez in a suitcase (this one might be my most favorite actually).

❓which characters of yours are your favorites to write? This is such a fun one. A few that I particularly enjoy writing:

Avis. I just Get her voice. It helps that she's opinionated as hell

Syndy. Same deal as Avis but also android. Actually all of the androids are so fun to write

Tirias. My baby. Mx. Women Are My Favorite Guy but she's both the women and the guy. Just so full of sass and drama and in love with the world

Rolf and also Snap. They're just my goofy sexy lil guys

Bean. He's one of those magical children's book guides like Mary Poppins except he's just a regular human middle school teacher (this is part of his magic) and also transmasc (for Red at least this is also part of his magic)

Julian. He's not easy to write exactly but I just really like him and think he's interesting. He is the most guy forever

Leon and Edith. They're so full of life, laughter, and sarcasm and they play off of each other so well

Martin and Kara. Like Leon and Edith except more understated. Martin is always leaning against something amicably and Kara is always doing something and they're very in love your honor

Isabel. She's not quite as easy to write as Avis even though they have some of the same vibes, however, I feel like I did myself such a disservice not writing from her perspective in Old Canon. Also she curses a lot and it kinda seems like the more curses the more fun it is

Graham. The way he speaks is directly based off Bill and Ted. The kind of person who would say "women are my favorite guy" and take a refined sip from his space Red Bull

Nicea taglist: @kahvilahuhut @kk7-rbs @outpost51 @writernopal @athenswrites