#which coincidentally involves a bookstore owner…

[ineffableteeth]

Imagining Crowley and Aziraphale walking through a snowy soho

Aziraphale starts shivering so Crowley drapes his unusually warm suit jacket over his shoulders

Then Aziraphale just looks at him with that adoring look

And Crowley tries to play it off as if he didn’t just do the most romantic thing

[aparecium-hq]

Name: Ivy Blum Birthday (Age): November  23, 2002 (25) Gender (Pronouns): Female (She/Her) Blood Status: Muggleborn Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff Occupation: Teashop owner and Seer Faceclaim: Odeya Rush

Character Teaser

Growing up muggleborn and being able to read the future wasn’t a great combination. Her family called her peculiar, but schoolmates used another word to describe Ivy Blum: a freak. It wasn’t until she was introduced into the world of magic that Ivy realized how special she truly was. Over the years, she’s developed her skills both in school and out in the world, while overcoming any obstacle in her way. She’s even opened a tea shop, where she offers teas and readings of all kinds. You’ll either find her behind the counter or chasing a little girl around the tables.

Feelings on Magical Integration

Ivy is absolutely an integrationist. She wishes she could have a conversation with her mother about the wizarding world and not have to explain every little thing. She wants her daughter to be able to mingle with muggles and wixen alike, as she has roots in both. She has a very long list that goes on for ages, but it’s mainly because she wants her family to be involved and know more about the wizarding world.

Biography

Ivy grew up as the youngest of four, with two older brothers and an older sister; The oldest, Rowan, 32, working as a lawyer in London. He has two daughters and an amazing wife. Ivy and Rowan got along pretty well as kids but didn’t form that strong of a connection, considering Rowan is 7 years older than her. Next is Flora, 28, who doesn’t really work. Her wife is some sort of business CEO in America, so Flora takes care of their three adopted children. Flora and Ivy were very very close as children, and it lasted all the way to adulthood. They talk frequently and Ivy goes to visit at least once a year. Finally, there’s Oliver, Ivy’s twin brother. They were inseparable as children, but when Ivy received a Hogwarts letter and Oliver didn’t, he got jealous. The summer between second and third year, they had a huge fight that ended with both of them swearing to never speak to the other again. They’re both too prideful to apologize, and never stayed in contact after Ivy moved out. She knows he’s working in their father’s shop, and that he met a girl who he’s dating seriously, but that’s all her parents told her.

As for her parents, Daisy and Thomas Blum are the proud owners of ‘Comics & Coffee’, a semi-successful bookstore-cafe franchise in the UK and select locations in America. Thomas started up the company in the late ’90s, while Daisy worked full-time as a nurse, covering expenses that come with starting your own business. Eventually, in 2010, the company started gaining traction after the Avengers movie was announced, and people wanted to get back into comics more than ever all of a sudden. There are seven locations throughout the UK, and three in America. Daisy quit her nursing job in 2011 to help Thomas take care of business, and they’re both happy, despite the busy schedules.

Ivy was a peculiar child, even without the surprise magic. Her mother claims that Ivy rarely cried as a baby and that sometimes she would walk into the nursery in the middle of the night to make sure her daughter was okay, only to find her standing in the crib as if expecting her to walk through the door at that moment. “It’s almost like you could tell the future,” she would joke when she had a few too many glasses of wine and spoke of the incidents, but once Ivy started at Hogwarts and learned what Divination was, she thought maybe she really could tell the future. She dismissed it as coincidental, she was just ‘force sensitive’, as her father would put it.

These occurrences continued throughout her childhood, in very different ways. Sometimes a utensil dropping on the floor would make her suddenly feel the urge to ask when such and such would arrive, even though her parents hadn’t invited anyone over. Sure enough, their grandmother, or some other individual, would show up out of the blue.

Ivy was a very quiet child. She didn’t say her first word until she was 18 months old, whereas Oliver had started talking at a year old. She preferred to sit and color over running around the playground screaming and causing chaos. Her schoolmates would call her a ‘freak’ most of the time, though she didn’t quite understand how rude it was until she got older. When her mother asked her why she was so quiet, Ivy merely shrugged her shoulders and said “I don’t really have anything important to say.”

One thing, however, that did get Ivy talking was comic books. Ivy spent a good part of her childhood between the rows of her father’s shop. You could usually find her in the X-Men section, a pile of comics surrounding her as she essentially devoured the one in her hand. If you even brought up any of the X-Men, you would see her light up like never before. She felt a special connection with the X-Men series specifically because they weren’t just superheroes; there were kids and teenagers like her, who were just trying to figure out why they were different. Up until her 11th birthday, she thought her accidental magic was actually her mutant powers, and that once she got older, Professor X or someone would come to get her. That obviously wasn’t the case.

Because Ivy’s birthday is so late in the year, she had to wait 10 months after receiving her letter to go to Hogwarts. She was also a year older than everyone in her year, which was convenient in 6th year because Ivy turned 17 before most of her classmates and was therefore sent out on Firewhiskey runs for them.

At Hogwarts, she really ‘blum’ed (I had to do it at least once). Despite the initial disappointment that she wouldn’t be heading to the X-Mansion, Hogwarts proved to be almost cooler. She wasn’t much of a hat-staller, but the Sorting Hat did debate for a little bit on whether to put her in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. It eventually decided on Hufflepuff, because her hard-working and loyal nature was more over-powering than her pride. As for classes, she discovered a natural gift for Herbology and quickly developed a love for plants of all kinds. If you couldn’t find her in the common room, your best bet was to search the Greenhouses, where Ivy was usually helping Professor Longbottom with some sort of plant.

Another class she found she excelled in was Divination. Professor Trelawney was well past her prime, but she did offer a starting point for Ivy, so she could slowly develop her Seer abilities as time went on. It was a nice distraction from the sadness of her fight with Oliver. Immersing herself in the world of Divination distracted her from dealing with her feelings. Ivy took the class every year for her remaining years at Hogwarts and found that no matter how hard the tried, she couldn’t get the hang of crystal balls or fortune-telling. She was very good at interpreting dreams, tarot cards, and tea leaves, however, which is why she calls herself ‘force sensitive’; She doesn’t visually see the future, but she can read the messages that the future sends.

After graduating from Hogwarts, she spent a year living abroad, trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She visited wizarding and muggle villages alike, all across Europe. She made money by reading palms and offering tarot readings to anyone who would ask. She eventually found that she enjoyed doing just that, minus the nomadic lifestyle. She wanted a store, her own business, just like her parents. When she returned home, she told her parents about her plan; open a tea shop for muggles and wixen alike. Muggles can come in and enjoy a cup of tea, or purchase tea if they’d like. Witches and wizards can come in and ask to use the upstairs washroom. This would prompt Ivy to lead them upstairs, where there was no bathroom, and that was where she would hold all of her readings (palmistry, tarot cards, tea leaves, etc). Ivy decided not to offer her readings to muggles because of the Statute of Secrecy; she isn’t 100% positive, but if her gifts are indeed Seer abilities, she could get in serious trouble for using them on muggles. If she was lucky, they wouldn’t find out about her year abroad. Though her parents didn’t quite understand the magic aspect of it, they were happy one of their children wanted to start their own business, and they gave Ivy a loan so she could buy a place in London and get things started.

After a lot of back and forth with the Ministry, Ivy finally opened the doors of ‘Leaves’ in 2023, at the age of 21. Though she received quite a few wixen clients, she didn’t initially receive many muggle clients. People weren’t as interested in sitting and enjoying tea in a shop if they could just do it at home. Her muggle clientele has grown slowly over the years, but her primary customers remain witches and wizards.

She almost gave up her business in 2025, when she became pregnant with her daughter. She’d been seeing someone for a few weeks, nothing extremely serious. Ivy called Flora before she told anybody else. Flora told her to tell the father, which did not end well for Ivy. He did exactly what she thought he would do, which was disappear. After he told her she wanted nothing to do with the baby, Ivy called Flora again, only this time, she was crying harder than she’d ever cried. Flora couldn’t understand any of what Ivy said for the first half-hour of their phone call. Eventually, Ivy calmed down and explained the situation, which prompted Flora to grab her kids and jump on a plane. Ivy spent two weeks holed up in her apartment with Flora, the kids visiting their grandparents, and looking around London. During this time, Flora and Ivy barely spoke; Flora knew Ivy just needed someone there, and that she’d ask for help when she needed it. After two weeks, she finally asked Flora what to do.

They concluded that she couldn’t do this alone. Ivy had to hire a shop assistant, and she wouldn’t be able to offer her readings for a while. Eventually, she chose to hire [TBD], who ended up being a pretty good help. Ivy only showed up every other day to check in on them.

Although it was unexpected and a little inopportune, Ivy was ecstatic to become a mother. She gave birth to her daughter, Olivia Iris Blum, in October of 2025. Though she’ll never admit it, Ivy named her daughter after her twin brother. Even though she’s only two years old, Olivia is as energetic and excitable as Oliver was when he was a kid, which makes Ivy feel like she still has a part of Oliver in her life. Ivy and Olivia live in the loft above the tea shop, and customers often see the young girl playing on the ground behind the counter or under unoccupied tables.

Connections

The Assistant: Someone who’s been working in the shop for a few years now, and who is pretty close with Ivy. Ideally, a character who is hard-working and trustworthy, but I’m open to a sweet employee who is Doing Their Best™.

The Baby Daddy: The father of Olivia, who has recently come back into the picture. Someone a little flaky, but who’s also Doing Their Best™.

The Best Friend: Someone Ivy has been friends with for years. They’ve gone through a lot together, and will always have each other’s backs.

Ivy was played by Reagan.

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

See first photos of all 40 new Hallmark Christmas movies (Only posting new photos, others have been posted before.) Part One

Our Christmas Love Song (Nov. 24, 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)

Stars: Alicia Witt, Brendan Hines

Contains: Plagiarism accusation, holiday homecoming for famous person

Official synopsis: “A country music star accused of plagiarism returns to her all-American hometown for the holidays in search of solace, and the original song lyrics that will prove she wrote the hit. There, she rediscovers the importance of home, family, and the special duet partner who she never stopped loving.”

Time for You to Come Home for Christmas (Dec. 6, 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies & Mystery)

Stars: Alison Sweeney, Lucas Bryant

Contains: Widow, veteran, holiday homecoming

Official synopsis: “When Katherine returns home after her husband passed, she meets a veteran who is on his own holiday journey. As Christmas nears, they learn of a bond that may be the miracle they need.”

Christmas at Dollywood (Dec. 8, 8 p.m., Hallmark Channel)

Stars: Danica McKellar, Niall Matter, Dolly Parton

Contains: Event planner returning to her Appalachian roots, Dolly Parton as matchmaker

Official synopsis: “Event planner Rachel Davis returns to her Tennessee hometown to take on the biggest job of her career – Dollywood’s 30th Smoky Mountain Christmas celebration – and is teamed up with unimaginative operations director Luke Hakman to plan the event that has to be as bombastic and glamourous as Dolly Parton herself. And when Dolly gets involved in a little matchmaking, Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas event lights up the sky with joy, laughter and love.”

Christmas in Montana (Dec. 14, 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)

Stars: Kellie Martin, Colin Ferguson

Contains: Cattle ranch in jeopardy, big-city woman wooed by small-town life

Official synopsis: “As Christmas approaches, Sara, a Los Angeles-based financial advisor and single mom, is sent to a small Montana town to help save a financially struggling cattle ranch. There, she meets Travis, the handsome owner of the troubled ranch now facing its last Christmas. Before long, Sara’s ambitious efforts to generate revenue clash with Travis’ laid-back business approach. When she unexpectedly starts to fall for small-town life — and for Travis — Sara must find a way to save the ranch without compromising his traditional values and must decide whether she’s going to return to L.A. or spend Christmas in Montana.”

Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday (Dec. 15, 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies & Mystery)

Stars: Jen Lilley, Carlo Marks, Eric Close

Contains: Bookstore kismet, divine intervention

Official synopsis: “Chloe, still upset with Ryan, who took her dream job in New York years ago, is fuming he’s back in Angel Falls consulting at her publishing company. Going to the bookstore to distract herself, she finds Memories of Christmas, left for her by an ‘angelic’ gentleman. Coincidentally, Ryan just rented his parents’ estate to the author, who Chloe would love to sign. But memories of the author’s late husband loom large, and she wants to leave. Someone ‘angelic’ better intervene to keep Ryan from running again, or Chloe, and Angel Falls, will lose out.”

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Dec. 21, 8 p.m. Hallmark Channel)

Stars: Eric Mabius

Contains: Rival mayors, Christmas competition

Official synopsis: “The two neighboring New Hampshire towns of East and West Riverton have been rivals for years, battling each other for everything from the winning high school football team to which town gets the most “likes” on Facebook. When a big company decides to hold a contest to find the small American town that best represents Christmas – and offers some large rewards to the winner – the mayors of East and West Riverton, the extremely competitive Gavin (Eric Mabius) and the equally competitive Stella decide to go all out to get their respective towns to the top of the holiday heap. It becomes a free-for-all of Christmas cheer as Gavin and Stella continually try to outdo each other with decorations, events, performers, parades, and more. The ever-escalating contest leads these two not only to realize what Christmas is really all about, but to find love with one another along the way.”

Christmas on My Mind (Dec. 21, 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies & Mystery)

Stars: Ashley Greene, Andrew Walker, Jackée Harry

Contains: Head trauma, rekindling of old flame

Official synopsis: “A bump on the head, an unexplained wedding dress and temporary short-term amnesia lead Lucy Lovett on a search for the truth about her breakup with longtime sweetheart Zach Callahan. She returns to Bedford Harbor, Maine, for the town’s Christmas celebration and rediscovers the woman she used to be, what matters most, and that a Christmas miracle can bring back love thought to be lost forever.”

[soulstealer1987]

Arc 5, Chapter 8

Ziist Grozein

Dealing with the Forsworn conspiracy goes about as well as you'd expect it to. Which is to say, everything goes to Oblivion in a handbasket.

Crossposted from AO3. Masterpost is here.

Arc 5: Shadows of the Past

Arc 5, Chapter 7 ~ Arc 5, Chapter 9

To say that Gallus is skeptical about how well this will work is an understatement. Even if he trusted Eltrys—which he doesn’t—the lad’s plan isn’t exactly foolproof. Rather, Gallus doubts it will work at all. It doesn’t help that while Gallus strongly suspects Eltrys isn’t lying outright, he’s definitely leaving something out.

On the other hand, he doesn’t exactly have a lot of options here. Gallus doesn’t have time to try something different, and he needs to get Karliah out of Cidhna Mine as soon as possible. So if, maybe, the plan doesn’t go entirely as… planned, that’ll be alright. It’ll be alright, in the end, so long as things don’t go too badly.

Besides. He’d rather finish this sooner rather than later. He doesn’t know what it’s like in Cidhna Mine—and he doesn’t want to—but imagining Karliah trapped anywhere makes his gut twist uncomfortably.

Now, he’s back at the Silver-Blood Inn, although this time it’s to investigate something else within, not to check if Karliah’s back. He knows far too well that she won’t be. The innkeeper, however, doesn’t.

“I haven’t seen her, lad,” the innkeeper says apologetically as Gallus walks in. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Gallus says, turns, and has to remember to force a smile. Even so, it’s more of a grimace. “I… didn’t think she’d be here, anyway.”

The innkeeper frowns, and says, “If you need a drink, just between the two of us, I can give you one on the house.”

Briefly, Gallus gives the possibility some serious thought, then shakes his head.

“No, thank you. I’d like to keep a clear head for the time being.”

The innkeeper nods in understanding, although Gallus sincerely doubts he actually understands why he needs a (more or less) clear head, or at the very least not the specifics. After all, he definitely wouldn’t approve of Gallus rifling through the room rented by the woman who’d been murdered. In all honesty, he’s probably pushing it by not hiding his worry.

Markarth is a dangerous city, perhaps even more so than Riften—for anyone besides him or Karliah, that is. Actually, comparing the two is pointless. Each has its own dangers, but Gallus supposes the big difference here is that he’d felt somewhat at home in Riften, if on edge around certain people. Markarth, while not entirely alien, has a cold, unforgiving feel to it. If the city were sentient, he suspects it would want him out just as much as he wants out, and he’s only partially sure of why.

Instead of heading into his room once he’s around the corner, Gallus leans against the side of the hallway and settles in to wait. He couldn’t say exactly how long he’s waited, but it’s some time before he gets his opportunity in the form of the innkeeper’s wife coming in and beginning to argue with him. Gallus doesn’t bother listening in. He takes a deep breath, casts his invisibility spell, and creeps back the way he came.

He doesn’t actually know which room was the murdered woman’s, but there’s only so many. It can’t take that long to—

“Are we ever going to clean out that room?” The innkeeper’s wife asks, and nods her head in the general direction of where Gallus had come from. Actually, come to think of it, there is another room further down there, and if that’s the right room…

Well, it’s convenient, to say the least. Gallus wastes no time in heading back down there, only to realize as he comes to the door that it’s locked (because of course it is, why wouldn’t it be) and a locked door means he needs to pick the lock, or get the key. Normally, he’d be fine with picking the lock, but lately…

In all honesty, he’s not sure what’s wrong. He probably just needs to get more sleep. Fortunately, luck seems to be on his side here, because the lock on the door breaks easily and without a sound, and he slips in.

The room’s mostly barren, with the exception of a couple of books. Gallus only glances offhandedly at the title of the first one, and sets it aside in favor of the second. The second book is a well-worn, leatherbound journal with the name ‘Margret’ written carefully on the inside.

That, Gallus supposes, must have been her name.

He tries not to think too hard about how the woman—how Margret—died, but isn’t particularly successful. Unconsciously, his grip on the book tightens. If this is her journal, she likely would have preferred it to stay private. Of course, she likely would have preferred to not die as well. So, Gallus flips to the last couple pages, and begins reading.

It doesn’t take him long to realize that Margret, whoever she was, was no innocent victim. From the looks of things, she was working for the Empire, and apparently tasked with making sure that Cidhna Mine, of all places, wouldn’t continue to belong to a family of Stormcloak sympathizers.

Maybe I've played my hand too soon by rushing the confrontation with Thonar, Margret had written, likely shortly before her death. There are shadows around every corner in this city, and I know I'm being watched.

Innocent or no, what happened to her had been coincidental at best and conspiratorial at worst. Gallus had thought that the Forsworn would despise the Stormcloaks, after everything he’s heard. Yet, even so, here was a self-proclaimed member of the Forsworn conveniently attacking someone that could have and would have made life very difficult for the Silver-Blood family, all of whom are apparently very wealthy Stormcloak sympathizers.

Perhaps, Gallus grudgingly admits, Eltrys is onto something. There’s definitely something not right here, and whatever it is, that’s probably what got Karliah thrown into Cidhna Mine. So, he takes the journal—it’s not like its owner is going to be using it anytime soon.

Before he exits, he looks back for the smallest of moments, and his gaze again finds the other book on the desk. The title is… odd, at best, and for a moment he wonders about the contents. He’s curious, but curiosity can wait. Chances are he can find it again elsewhere, but then again, it isn’t like he goes to many bookstores, and this one is too intriguing to pass up, even if he doesn’t have the time to read it at the moment.

Nightingales: Fact or Fiction ends up in his pack, partially because he’s curious, and partially because something about the title sticks with him. He’s not sure what.

“So, you’re saying she was investigating the Silver-Bloods right before she died?” Eltrys asks. Gallus nods. “Damn. Can’t say I’m surprised that they’re involved, they’re involved in everything around here, but that makes our job that much harder.”

Briefly, Gallus considers correcting him, as he’s literally done no work on this so far. At least, none that he knows of.

“So what now?”

“I’ll look into Weylin’s room in the Warrens, see if I can find anything. It’ll be less suspicious if I go there, I… live there myself.”

If Gallus remembers correctly, Weylin had been the murderer’s name. Eltrys had said that he’d known him at least a little, enough to know that he definitely hadn’t gone mad. What he’d done had been completely purposeful, and there had to be a reason why. Makes sense.

“What are the Warrens?” He asks after a moment, because he can’t recall having heard that name before. Eltrys fails to hide a grimace.

“You could call them Markarth’s slums, although calling them slums is fairly generous. I’m hoping to get my family out of there soon—but that’s not important right now. I’ll go check the Warrens. You should look into the Treasury House. It’s run by the Silver-Bloods, and, um…”

Eltrys grins uneasily, and continues, “Say hello to my wife while you’re there. Or… actually, don’t, she’ll try to talk me out of this. Too dangerous, she says. But… I don’t know about you, but I need answers.”

Gallus nods. “I just need to get my,” he hesitates, “friend out of Cidhna Mine.” Eltrys evidently catches his lie, and raises an eyebrow.

“Anyway,” Gallus continues briskly, “I’ll meet you back here in… an hour.” That should prove more than enough time to slip into the Treasury House, steal whatever evidence he can find—a journal, perhaps? Everybody and their mother seems to be keeping one—and get back to the Shrine of Talos. Eltrys nods.

“Be seeing you.”

The Treasury House is nearly deserted, and evidently the woman at the counter (Gallus assumes this is Eltrys’ wife) doesn’t get anywhere near as much sleep as she should, because she’s obviously quite drowsy. It’s a simple matter to slip past her, and the lock on the door to the interior proved surprisingly easy, considering how paranoid the Silver-Bloods were supposed to be. (Or… are, if they’re anything like the Black-Briars.)

It’s slightly harder to slip past the man that Gallus would guess is Thonar Silver-Blood himself. While he’s got his back to the door and is absorbed in reading some kind of book, he’s clearly quite alert and Gallus can’t risk being caught. So, he casts a spell to muffle his footsteps, then another to hide him from view entirely, and stays silent for good measure as he creeps up behind the man.

If he were an assassin, this would be a great position to slit his throat from. However, Gallus isn’t an assassin and despises even the thought of becoming one, so he kneels, grabs a similar-looking book to Margret’s journal, and before leaving, he cautiously opens it.

It’s Thonar Silver-Blood’s journal, and flipping through it soon gives him all the information he needs. Eltrys evidently was spot-on with his guess that there was in fact, a conspiracy going on here, and it had everything to do with the Forsworn. Apparently, it has everything to do with the Silver-Bloods, too.

Gallus briefly considers leaving it here, but soon decides against it. If Eltrys’ plan is what he thinks it is, he’ll need the journal as evidence. So, he grabs that and slips out, completely unnoticed, and returns to the Shrine of Talos.

Unfortunately for him, he soon finds out that while things went quite well on his end, they went as badly as they possibly could have on Eltrys’ own.