#whose family had links to witchcraft!

[queens-an-tings]

Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort of Edward IV of England.

Artist and date unknown.

Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492) was renowned for her beauty, but did not hail from a great aristocratic family. Indeed, her parents had caused a huge scandal when they married because her mother, Jacquetta of Luxemburg, should not have done so without royal consent (that’s another story for another time). When Edward IV married Elizabeth in 1464, he was the first king in four centuries to marry one of his subjects, the act of which also provoked public concern and condemnation. Their union earned Elizabeth the moniker ‘The White Queen’ in reference to the emblem of the white rose sometimes associated with the Yorkist branch of the Plantagenet royal family, yet she herself had grown up in a Lancastrian background.

I’ve been listening to a couple of videos about her life on a YouTube history channel sent to me by my friend Gareth - just listening to it is emotionally draining; for her experiencing it, day in, day out, must have felt as though she was going through a living Hell. A teenage bride and mother, widowed with two sons in her early twenties, she probably thought things were on the up when she married the King of England three years later. However, her life was to be deeply and tragically affected by the ongoing 'Wars of the Roses' (1455–1487), the battle for the throne that raged and wrought destruction between the two aforementioned branches of the royal family.

The marriage was immediately unpopular on account of Elizabeth’s background, and her being several years older than her new husband, plus her previous status as a widowed mother of two, possessing no royal dowry, but nevertheless the couple stayed together for just short of twenty years and produced ten children. Events remained far from stable throughout their marriage, though. Most shocking was the disappearance of two of the children who became known as the two ‘Princes in the Tower’ (Edward V, who was due to be crowned, and his brother, Richard of Shrewsbury) and were presumed to have been murdered. Elizabeth’s son by her first marriage, Richard Grey, was executed that same year (1483) and she’d already lost her father and brother over a decade earlier, executed in 1469, after a Yorkist defeat.

Edward, whose love for Elizabeth was much-celebrated though not imbued with fidelity, had died aged 40, probably of ill health, also in 1483. Within the space of three and a half months, she had lost her husband, three of her sons and another brother. After Edward’s death, Elizabeth had to stand by while her brother-in-law, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, whom it’s suspected had arranged the murder of her two boys, was crowned King Richard III, and declared that her marriage to Edward IV had been invalid, their children illegitimate and saw to it that she’d receive no further income.

How on earth did she cope with so much grief and fear and uncertainty? Remember, she spent altogether a total of nine years in the state of pregnancy and risked her life twelve times in the event of childbirth. She outlived two husbands, six of her twelve children, and twelve of her thirteen siblings. In the earlier days of her marriage, she’d been powerless to assist while her mother was accused by her in-laws of witchcraft (of which she was later exonerated) and she finally lost her mother in 1472, when Jacquetta died of ill health in her mid-fifties. Elizabeth was around the same age herself when she too died from ill health. Yet at least she lived to see her daughter, Elizabeth of York, become Queen Consort of England when she married King Henry VII (Henry Tudor). This happy, loving marriage brought peace to the country at last, as it finally united the two warring factions of the Yorkists and the Lancastrians.

Needs checking!

The video about the life of Elizabeth Woodville is in two parts - the first part can be accessed via the link here. It’s a pity the videos are interrupted with adverts, otherwise it’s a good listen. Warning: the fact that they all have the same names (Edward, Richard, Elizabeth, Margaret, etc) will slowly drive you insane! Plus the story itself is very, very complicated…

[wickedanddeadly]

Lilith Desdemona's Bio

" I looked into your eyes and saw a world that does not exist. "

Lilith Desdemona - skin-walker, a creature that can transform into any desired animal or human being.

In the Navajo culture, a Skinwalker is a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal or a human being. The Navajo believe there are places where the powers of both good and evil are present and that those powers can be harnessed for either. Medicine men utilize these powers to heal and aid members of their communities, while those who practice Navajo witchcraft, seek to direct the spiritual forces to cause harm or misfortune to others. It is said that, in addition to being able to shapeshift, the Skinwalker is also able to control the creatures of the night, such as wolves and owls, and to make them do their bidding. Some are able to call up the spirits of the dead and reanimate the corpses to attack their enemies.

Lilith and her fraternal twin, Crimson, were born to a mother and father who both shared ancient Navajo ancestors. Lilith and Crimson were like night and day. Crimson is the one to study and learn about their family’s history. Lilith on the other hand chose to ignore it as much as she could. Every day, she had to listen to the stories of the Skinwalker gene that ran in their family – the risks that were involved. How children were often triggered by committing a horrible crime such as killing a loved one. How only a special tattoo could save them from being overcome by darkness. Lilith thought it was nothing more than ancient stories to scare children.

Crimson was always the favored daughter, and this caused resentment in Lilith for her sister. At the age of fifteen, Lilith and Crimson got into a heated argument. Lilith had been attempting to sneak out of the house when Crimson caught her and threatened to tell on her. One thing led to another and in a blind fit of rage Lilith shoved her sister over the banister leading to the stairway. Crimson died instantly on impact from a broken neck and busted spine. It was then Lilith’s Skinwalker gene was triggered.

Where there should have been an inner struggle between good and bad, Lilith easily gave into the dark side of the Skinwalker's curse. After learning what she had done – the horrors that awaited, Lilith’s parents banished her from their home and told her to never return.

Lilith has dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is mostly seen with red lipstick that has a darker style. Lilith can be very seductive when she needs to be. She has a very straightforward way of putting things and will not hesitate to make a move.

Recently Lilith’s dreams have drawn her to Santa Carla. She is haunted by a face that has a spirit as dark as her own. She won’t stop until she can track down this creature to who she seems so drawn to.

As of December 2021: Lilith had long since united with the force she was drawn to, Rory Hawthorne, a fellow skin-walker, but whose birthright powers were stripped away when his twin, Leon, killed him in childhood. The two have become fiercely devoted lovers, and haven't left each other's side.

Powers and abilities

Shapeshifting - Skinwalkers can shapeshift into any animal in the world they know of, including humans. Telepathy - Skinwalkers are also telepathically linked with each other. The Alphas of two different packs may communicate telepathically and are able to choose what thoughts they share. Voice Mimicry - Skinwalkers can copy animal or human voices. Possession - If a human looks into a Skinwalker's eyes, the Skinwalker can magically steal their skin for their own use. Witchcraft Superhuman Strength, Speed, Agility, Durability, Senses Longevity Healing Factor Multi Sense - Skinwalkers do have superhuman senses in human and animal form, but the Multi sense is the combined senses of multiple animals giving them Spidey-Sense-like abilities. Weaknesses

White Ash – Any weapon forged with white ash can be fatal. Basic stats

Height: 5'8" Hair: Brown Eyes: Dark Brown Relations

Mother Father Crimson (sister; deceased) Rory Hawthorne (lover) Face Claim - Charlize Theron

[dollycas]

Cozy Wednesday featuring Bell, Book and Corpses (A Nick and Nora Mystery) by T. C. LoTempio #Review / #Giveaway - Great Escapes Book Tour - @RoccoBlogger

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday! I am delighted to share my thoughts about Bell, Book and Corpses by T. C. LoTempio today! Bell, Book and Corpses (A Nick and Nora Mystery) by T. C. LoTempio About Bell, Book and Corpses Bell, Book and Corpses (A Nick and Nora Mystery) Cozy Mystery 7th in the Series Setting - California Beyond the Page (September 24, 2024) Paperback ‏ : ‎ 206 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1960511831 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1960511836 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DFDWSQRN It’s Halloween trick-or-treachery when murder pays a visit to a cursed mansion in the new Nick and Nora mystery . . . Waincroft Manor has long been tied to rumors of witchcraft and fatal curses, and to Nora Charles, that makes it the perfect place for a Halloween fundraiser. But her first trip to the deserted old mansion turns out to be truly ghoulish when she discovers a dead body. What’s more, the corpse is laid out in a coffin—with two bite marks on its neck. Then the autopsy comes back showing that the body was drained of blood, and there’s no stopping the local gossips from whispering the word vampire to anyone who will listen. Determined to dispel the rumors and save the fundraiser, Nora sets out to prove the murderer was quite human after all. Sifting through the clues, she learns of a bitter family rivalry that spans generations, and a more recent conflict that may point to the motive for the murder. And when Nick spells out a clue that proves to be the missing piece of the puzzle, Nora knows she’ll have to watch her back—because there’s a killer out there who wants to keep some secrets buried, and they’ll happily bury Nora right along with them . . . Includes mouthwatering recipes! Dollycas's Thoughts Where better to hold a community fundraiser on Halloween than in a mansion said to be linked to fatal curses and witchcraft? Waincroft Manor has been vacant for years and the current owner willingly gives her approval. But when Nora, her detective cat Nick and a few committee members arrive to check out the creepy place a young boy runs out the door, struggles with Nora, pushes her down, and runs into the woods. While all that is happening Nick escapes into the house. When Nora catches up with him she finds a coffin in the room. A coffin complete with a dead body.  A dead body with two bite marks on its neck. A body that was drained of all its blood. Witchcraft, curses, okay, but there was no mention of vampires! Will Nick and Nora be able to figure out who sucked the blood out of the victim in time to save the fundraiser? Or will Nick spell out more doom and gloom? Will Nora's snooping go too far and cost her her life? And one of Nick's too? _____ This is such a fun series! Ms. LoTempio's characters are so well-crafted. She gives a twist to the characters of The Thin Man movies. This Nick is a cool cat with a unique talent and flair for solving murders. This Nora owns a sandwich shop and just passed a private investigator course making her even more credible butting into the investigation. Or so she thought. Her previous FBI boyfriend is off on a case but she has now started dating Leroy Samms, another FBI agent she had an "intimate moment" with in college. Nick's former human, also named Nick is a PI and possible spy whose whereabouts are unknown, which is a mystery Nora hasn't been able to solve. The author has written a complex mystery. The motive was hard to define but Nora with Nick delved in to follow each clue and came up with some interesting theories. Then there was another murder which gave Nora more things to figure out. It wasn't until a ballpoint pen burst and brought back an important memory that the clues started to fall into place. But was Nora too late? She needed to follow through to see if she was right. This led to a surprising finding, reveal, confrontation, and a scary situation. I loved all the red herrings, twists, and turns, and that mystery was compelling and not easy to solve. It made me think. I also loved the humor of the ending and Nick's Scrabble tiles. Bell, Book, and Corpses was a totally entertaining read and I escaped right into it. I love the unique investigative team of Nick and Nora and can never get enough. I am keen to see what Ms. LoTempio has planned for them next. I hope this series continues for a long time. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Beyond the Page Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent About T.C. LoTempio While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic.  She and her cat pen the Nick and Nora mystery series originally from Berkley Prime Crime and now with Beyond the Page Publishing.  They also write the Cat Rescue series from Crooked Lane and the Pet Shop series, originally published by Midnight Ink and rebranded last  year as “Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries.”  Book six in the Nick and Nora mysteries, A PURR BEFORE DYING, is released this February from Beyond the Page.  There is also a new series, Tiffany Austin Food Blogger, coming out in April. You can cat-ch up with them at ROCCO’s blog, www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com, or her website, www.tclotempio.net Blog     Website    Facebook   Twitter/X:  @RoccoBlogger Purchase Links  Amazon  –  B&N –  Kobo Also written by T.C. LoTempio This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas. TOUR PARTICIPANTS - Please visit all the stops.  September 24 – Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense – SPOTLIGHT September 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW September 25 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW September 26 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT September 26 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT September 26 – Novels Alive – REVIEW September 27 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW September 28 – Boys' Mom Reads! – CHARACTER GUEST POST September 28 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT September 29 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT September 30 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT October 1 – Sneaky the Library Cat's blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW October 1 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW October 2 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – REVIEW October 3 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT October 4 – Deal Sharing Aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW October 5 – fundinmental – RECIPE October 6 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR GUEST POST October 7 – Melina's Book Blog - REVIEW October 7 – Reading Authors – SPOTLIGHT a Rafflecopter giveaway Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.” Read the full article

[gravityofforteana]

The primary data of this book concern side effects of using psychic abilities and engaging supernatural phenomena. Those effects can be discovered by analyzing the social milieu around the phenomena. Of particular interest are the repercussions to groups and institutions, including families, academe, governments, science, religion, and industry. There is a pattern, and generally the phenomena either provoke or accompany some kind of destructuring—a concept discussed at length in this book. For instance, the phenomena do not flourish within stable institutions, and endless examples illustrate this. Fortunately, two theoretical perspectives are already developed that connect the supernatural to ideas about social order and structure. The first is Victor Turner’s work on liminality and anti-structure. The second is Max Weber’s theory of rationalization. Both have profound implications for understanding psychic phenomena.

The central theme developed in this book is that psi, the paranormal, and the supernatural are fundamentally linked to destructuring, change, transition, disorder,marginality, the ephemeral, fluidity, ambiguity, and blurring of boundaries. In contrast, the phenomena are repressed or excluded with order, structure, routine, stasis, regularity, precision, rigidity, and clear demarcation. I hesitate to offer this very general statement because, by itself, it will almost certainly be misinterpreted; much of the book is devoted to explaining it. I will present some brief examples here.

When entire cultures undergo profound change, there is often an upsurge of interest in the paranormal. During the breakup of the former U.S.S.R. there was an explosion of paranormal activity throughout eastern Europe. Healers and psychics featured prominently in the media. This should not have been a surprise because anthropologists have shown that the supernatural has figured in thousands of cultural revitalization movements.

Numerous mystics have displayed extraordinary paranormal powers, but many of them were outsiders, marginal characters whose lives were exceedingly odd. St. Francis of Assisi performed many miracles, but he was mistrusted by church authorities and caused them many headaches.

Groups that attempt to use paranormal abilities, such as those in modern-day witchcraft and spiritualism, typically have a transitory, ephemeral existence. The few that manage some measure of institutionalizing (with buildings and paid staff) become marginalized, and often are accused of fraud and deception. Likewise psychical researchorganizations have always had a tenuous existence, and parapsychology has never been truly integrated into the academic establishment.

Magicians (performers of magic tricks) have played central roles in paranormal controversies, not only recently, but for hundreds of years. Magicians on both sides of the dispute have faked psychic phenomena, thereby contributing to the ambiguity surrounding them.

Skeptics understand that frauds and hoaxes plague the paranormal, but parapsychologists naively consider them only a minor problem. Parapsychologists have amassed overwhelming evidence for the reality of psi; skeptics ignore it and even deny that such evidence exists.

Many aspects of the paranormal (e.g., ghosts, UFO abductions, Bigfoot) have temporarily captured intense popular interest, but that has never been translated into financially viable, stable institutions that directly elicit or engage the phenomena. Instead the researchers use their own funds and are given no support from institutions. In contrast, science has uninhibitedly ventured into virtually all other areas once considered taboo. The study of sexuality, in all its forms, is established in universities and medical schools. Sizeable industries and well-funded research labs are organized around cloning, artificial insemination, and genetic manipulation, despite ethical qualms. Thelowly ghost researcher receives only sneers.

Many religions display an ambivalent, wary attitude toward supernatural phenomena. The 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church shows this clearly. It acknowledges that “God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints,” but in the very next paragraph it states that “interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums … contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.” The following paragraph says “All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers … even if this were for the sake of restoring health—are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.” Catholicism is not alone in these views, and many other diverse religious and spiritual traditions also acknowledge the existence of such phenomena but warn against seeking that power.

In short, the paranormal and supernatural are ambiguous and marginal in virtually all ways: socially, intellectually, academically, religiously, scientifically, and conceptually. They don’t fit in the rational world.

Some may see no pattern to the above examples; they do appear chaotic. But there is a pattern, and it has enormous implications. The theories of anti-structure and rationalization, which will be described later, provide remarkable insight.

One of the implications of the pattern is that there are subtle but pervasive pressures that conspire to keep the paranormal marginalized and scientific investigation at a minimum. This does not require a consciously organized human conspiracy. It is a direct property of the phenomena. Psi interacts with our physical world, with our thoughts, and with our social institutions. Even contemplating certain ideas has consequences. The phenomena are not to be tamed by mere logic and rationality, and attempts to do so are doomed to failure. These notions are undoubtedly anathema to my scientific colleagues in parapsychology. To their chagrin, I will demonstrate that deception and the irrational are keys to understanding psi.

-George P Hansen - The Trickster and the Paranormal

[jarredlharris]

Live-threading my thoughts while listening to the Thereafter Podcast episode featuring Will Thorpe

The following is the compilation of a live-thread I did while listening to Thereafter Podcast episode #090.

I don't normally listen to @thereafterpodcast in the evening, but I thought we'd shake up my schedule this week. Let's do this!

.@cortlandcoffey is talking about recovery from his surgery. I had forgotten what he had surgery for. (Sorry, Cortland.) @thereafterpodcast

.@thepursuinglife is promoting the Content Warning Event. So looking forward to that. @thereafterpodcast

They're getting right into the interview with @heretical_theology, who doesn't seem to use his Threads account very often. So I probably will just call him by his first name (Will) and not link his threads account in every post. He's apparently more active on Instagram, so check him out there. @thereafterpodcast

I just now got the pun of the name of his Insta. I'm a bit slow today, it seems. @thereafterpodcast

Will: "I felt like the church had abandoned Christ, then I felt that Christ had abandoned me." Wow. Powerful. @thereafterpodcast

Will is talking about how he's constantly changing and growing as a person. @thereafterpodcast

Will acknowledges that progressive theology is at least less harmful than evangelical theology, "but still doesn't see a point in it." I think that's fair. @thereafterpodcast

Will is a secular witch now. I teased @thepursuinglife that I was disappointed to learn I wasn't the first witch on the show, she pointed out technically, Will wasn't a witch yet back in Episode 014. So I was. Hey, I want just one tiny claim to fame, okay? @thereafterpodcast

Will points out that the outrage posts tend to be some of the more popular posts. An unfortunate truth. @thereafterpodcast

Will says got into witchcraft through learning about the divine feminine. That's awesome. @thereafterpodcast

Will talks about how they thought that having gender dysphoria was a requirement to be considered trans. That seems a common misconception and I'm glad they're talking about it and helping dispel it. @thereafterpodcast

Also, it looks like I've been using the wrong pronouns for Will and I apologize for that. I'm endeavoring to switch to the correct pronouns for the rest of the thread. @thereafterpodcast

Oh, Will accepts both he/him and they/them. Good to know. (I need to get better at double-checking that before I do these threads though.) @thereafterpodcast

Wow, Will is talking about losing followers whenever they talk about trans issues. That's terrible. @thereafterpodcast

This is where I have strong feelings as a person who WANTS to learn about people whose lived experiences and thoughts are different from my own. @thereafterpodcast

.@thepursuinglife: "I feel like you're being too generous." Hard same, Meghan. @thereafterpodcast

.@cortlandcoffey: "I'm always here for a good Meghan rant." Hard same, Cortland. @thereafterpodcast

Will's short take on John Cooper's choice to make fun of Derek Webb for wearing a dress to the Dove awards is kind of funny. @thereafterpodcast

Will: "I think a lot of people are afraid to go deep down in themselves and see who they are." Word. @thereafterpodcast

One of the things that bothers me about transphobia is that there seems to be a lot of it even among my fellow cisgay people. @thereafterpodcast

.@cortlandcoffey is jokingly suggesting that the podcasts may be turning people gay and everyone's laughing. Including me listening to it. @thereafterpodcast

Will is talking about secular spirituality as he understands it. Interesting stuff. @thereafterpodcast

Will is talking about secular tarot. I'm reminded of my friend @quiara, who refers to their tarot cards as "spicy psychology cards." @thereafterpodcast

Will says that one of the things he find most attractive about his wife is her confidence. At first, I misheard "confidence" as "coffins" and I was like "wait, what?" 🤣 @thereafterpodcast

Will is about to do a tarot reading for @thepursuinglife and @cortlandcoffey. I won't be saying much about this part of the show. While I enjoy seeing how other people do their tarot readings, I generally think it's inappropriate and even downright rude to comment on a reading done by another person. @thereafterpodcast

As an aside, if I ever ask you to do a tarot reading (or any other kind of reading), for me, be aware that in my mind, I'm paying you quite the compliment. I'm pretty picky about who I let read for me. @thereafterpodcast

Another great episode! @thereafterpodcast

[pastedpast]

Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort of Edward IV of England.

Artist and date unknown.

Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492) was renowned for her beauty, but did not hail from a great aristocratic family. Indeed, her parents had caused a huge scandal when they married because her mother, Jacquetta of Luxemburg, should not have done so without royal consent (that's another story for another time). When Edward IV married Elizabeth in 1464, he was the first king in four centuries to marry one of his subjects, the act of which also provoked public concern and condemnation. Their union earned Elizabeth the moniker 'The White Queen' in reference to the emblem of the white rose sometimes associated with the Yorkist branch of the Plantagenet royal family, yet she herself had grown up in a Lancastrian background.

I've been listening to a couple of videos about her life on a YouTube history channel sent to me by my friend Gareth - just listening to it is emotionally draining; for her experiencing it, day in, day out, must have felt as though she was going through a living Hell. A teenage bride and mother, widowed with two sons in her early twenties, she probably thought things were on the up when she married the King of England three years later. However, her life was to be deeply and tragically affected by the ongoing 'Wars of the Roses' (1455–1487), the battle for the throne that raged and wrought destruction between the two aforementioned branches of the royal family.

The marriage was immediately unpopular on account of Elizabeth's background, and her being several years older than her new husband, plus her previous status as a widowed mother of two, possessing no royal dowry, but nevertheless the couple stayed together for just short of twenty years and produced ten children. Events remained far from stable throughout their marriage, though. Most shocking was the disappearance of two of the children who became known as the two ‘Princes in the Tower’ (Edward V, who was due to be crowned, and his brother, Richard of Shrewsbury) and were presumed to have been murdered. Elizabeth's son by her first marriage, Richard Grey, was executed that same year (1483) and she'd already lost her father and brother over a decade earlier, executed in 1469, after a Yorkist defeat.

Edward, whose love for Elizabeth was much-celebrated though not imbued with fidelity, had died aged 40, probably of ill health, also in 1483. Within the space of three and a half months, she had lost her husband, three of her sons and another brother. After Edward's death, Elizabeth had to stand by while her brother-in-law, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, whom it's suspected had arranged the murder of her two boys, was crowned King Richard III, and declared that her marriage to Edward IV had been invalid, their children illegitimate and saw to it that she'd receive no further income.

How on earth did she cope with so much grief and fear and uncertainty? Remember, she spent altogether a total of nine years in the state of pregnancy and risked her life twelve times in the event of childbirth. She outlived two husbands, six of her twelve children, and twelve of her thirteen siblings. In the earlier days of her marriage, she'd been powerless to assist while her mother was accused by her in-laws of witchcraft (of which she was later exonerated) and she finally lost her mother in 1472, when Jacquetta died of ill health in her mid-fifties. Elizabeth was around the same age herself when she too died from ill health. Yet at least she lived to see her daughter, Elizabeth of York, become Queen Consort of England when she married King Henry VII (Henry Tudor). This happy, loving marriage brought peace to the country at last, as it finally united the two warring factions of the Yorkists and the Lancastrians.

Needs checking!

The video about the life of Elizabeth Woodville is in two parts - the first part can be accessed via the link here. It's a pity the videos are interrupted with adverts, otherwise it's a good listen. Warning: the fact that they all have the same names (Edward, Richard, Elizabeth, Margaret, etc) will slowly drive you insane! Plus the story itself is very, very complicated...

Posthumous portrait of King Edward IV (1442-83), artist & date unknown.

[carewyncromwell]

So recently the lovely @angellazull did an awesome piece featuring himself in his country’s magic school’s robes  (in his case, Castelobruxo)...and I got inspired!

Being from America, my magic school should be Ilvermorny, but...yeah, Ilvermorny lives in New England. I spent almost all of my formative years in Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C. -- and quite frankly, if you don’t live in the U.S., then you’re probably unaware of the tensions that crop up between different areas of the country (i.e. Northeast VS South; Midwest VS Northeast and West) as well as between individual states (i.e. New York VS New Jersey; Texas VS California; Florida VS...everyone else...). It’s basically like saying that Beauxbatons is the only school for all of Western Euro -- oh wait. XDD

So yeah, um -- I have the headcanon that Ilvermorny and the Salem Witches Institute are not the only magic schools in North America, because that is absolutely impossible. So I made up a school for my younger self (since I’m no longer in school, LOL) that would’ve fit comfortably in my home state of Maryland -- a pair of schools called the Virtue School of Sorcery and Violl University, often casually shortened to Virtue-Violl. (Way too much additional info under the cut because I am a humongous nerd.)

The school was founded in the mid-18th century by Virtue Violl, a witch who was the last woman to be accused of witchcraft in Maryland’s history. She was spared punishment by the colony’s first Attorney General, a No-Maj named William Bladen. Even though Bladen suspected Virtue might in fact really be a witch, she had been nothing but kind to him, and so Bladen declared her innocent of any crimes and set her free. The two later became close friends, and Virtue decided to open a school where others like her could safely learn their craft away from No-Maj eyes. Decades later after the end of the Revolutionary War, this school would later be split in two, with both being named after her.

When a young mage in the Maryland area turns 10, they receive a letter inviting them to attend Virtue School of Sorcery the following school year. If the child’s family is magical, then the family can always decline in favor of attending another magical school or teaching their child magic from home. If the child’s family is No-Maj (or non-magical), then it’s strongly encouraged to accept the invitation or that of another school, but if the family still refuses, then the MACUSA may need to get involved to make sure that the child in question doesn’t become an Obscurus. If the invitation is accepted, then the following year, the child is provided a Portkey that will take them to their orientation.

Just like in other American private schools, the students are grouped by year (no house system here), and at the end of every school day, they’re allowed to return home to their families and sleep in their own beds. This both makes it easier to hide the two schools (the locations of which keep hopping up and down the Potomac River every few years to avoid No-Maj detection) and encourages the magical children to continue living in the No-Maj world so their magic isn’t as easily detected. (In America, the Wizarding World is even more underground than in the U.K., so Virtue-Violl strongly advocates its graduates being able to live comfortably in both the No-Maj and Wizarding Worlds. This is also why their school uniforms don’t include robes the way Hogwarts’ do.)

Once a student graduates from Virtue at the age of 14, they then move up to Violl University and study there for four more years. If Virtue teaches its students the building blocks of magic, then Violl teaches them how to apply what they’ve learned in the No-Maj and Wizarding Worlds. Violl students are more likely to be sent out into the No-Maj world on assignments and sent on field trips to the MACUSA, hidden magical communities, and other magical schools. Although the legal age in the Wizarding World is 17 and so senior year Violl students can openly use magic, they’re given an extra year of education in advanced magic like Animagi Transformation and Alchemy, both to make sure they’re well-rounded and so that Violl alumni are legal adults in the No-Maj world by the time they leave. Each Violl student must also pick an area of study like Charms or Magizoology as their specialty (rather like choosing a major in college), and is allowed access to a specific clubhouse (rather like a fraternity or sorority) for students interested in their area of study.

Virtue and Violl’s school uniforms have similar color schemes (burgundy/white/gold/black, just like the Maryland state flag), but slightly different designs. Virtue’s features a long-sleeved white shirt, a gold caped vest, a plaid burgundy skirt or shorts, black ankle boots, and (optional) a white pointed hat with a burgundy ribbon and Jobberknoll feather. Violl’s features a long-sleeved white shirt with a collar, a gold vest, and high-waisted, wide-legged burgundy plaid slacks -- the traditional hat is generally discarded at this point, so as to encourage a more “No-Maj-like” appearance in its older students, in an attempt to encourage future integration into No-Maj society. Burgundy-trimmed white wool capelets and long gold-trimmed black trenchcoats with flared sleeves are worn in colder weather.

The school’s mascot is the Jobberknoll, a magical bird that is silent its entire life before giving one last, long song just before dying. Its insignia, which depicts an crossed arrow and wand, resembles a Native American symbol of friendship and symbolizes the strong platonic bond between William Bladen and Virtue Violl.

[ofbloodandbullets]

So it’s recently come to my attention that not everyone in the world has actually watched The Old Guard (WHO KNEW?!) so I’m going to try and do some info dumps about the world, the general canon and Andy’s history, personality, powers etc.  This will ... probably get kinda lengthy. 

Also: MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS FOR COMICS & MOVIE.

The first thing you need to know is that for the main part, the history and the world that TOG takes place in is the exact same one as the real history of the world.  It’s set in modern day, though the plot points stretch back to 7k+ years ago.  It’s also important to note that there is a lot of historical inaccuracies and some things in canon that conflict themselves so it’s best to just take it all with a grain of salt and just go with what works best for your particular preferences etc. 

The main difference between reality and TOG is that in TOG there are a very minute like .00000000002% of the population that are immortals.  Now, it’s important to note that these people can die but they resurrect pretty close to immediately after they die no matter the amount of damage done.  Now it can take some time to fully heal or reform, depending on how extensive the trauma (being blown to bits or burned etc. will take longer to fix but there’s no amount of damage that we know of that can actually keep them dead).  

There are times when, for reasons unknown to the characters in character (or to us as readers  of the comics / viewers of the movie etc) that the immortality just stops.  There’ll just be a time that they suffer injuries that just don’t heal, and they die.  There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to this, be it age, number of times they’ve died, whatever.  Now, I have my own entirely headcanon and personal preference based theory which you can find HERE but it’s totally just a random idea that I had that I liked to explain the loss of Andy’s immortality in the movie (that doesn’t happen in the comics) and lets me say that she regains her immortality post canon so that I can nudge things back in the direction of the comics for post movie plots and so on.

Andy is, as far as we know, and as far as she knows, the oldest (human) immortal, coming in at around 7,000 years old.  She was born into a tribe, the Scythia (hence what she’s generally called: Andromache the Scythian).  A nomadic warrior tribe that I headcanon to be a matriarchy, Andy was betrayed by the ‘queen mother’ when she was sixteen and killed in battle because the leader feared that Andy posed a danger to her continuing rule.  This person was practically a mother to Andy and it was a horrific betrayal.  What was almost as shocking to Andy was the fact that she got back up again after being literally stabbed in the back and killed.

In the vein of trying to thwart prophecies making them happen, Andy killed the matriarch and took her placce ruling the tribe, eventually becoming a God King to her people and ruling over them for hundreds of years until her loneliness absolutely overwhelmed her and one day she just vanished.

At some point after this, she began to dream of a woman, feeling a pull towards this stranger that she couldn’t begin to explain.  After dozens, maybe hundreds of years, she managed to track down the woman in question (Noriko in the comics, Quynh in the movie) and realized that they’d been dreaming of each other.  (In the comics she meets Lykon before Quynh/Noriko, whom she had also been dreaming of).  

Now, the connection between these immortals isn’t explained in canon, and for a long time, Andy, Lykon, Noriko (and eventually Joe, Nicky, Book) thought they were the only ones but there is a scene in the second set of comics that implies that there are other ‘packs’ of immortals.  I headcanon that it’s a ‘like calls to like’ / kind of Sense8 simpatico type thing - like minded souls drawn to each other, which is why Andy and the others didn’t know about the other immortals, but again, that’s just entirely my thoughts on the matter. 

Lykon is the first to succumb to the loss of immortality, a short couple hundreds years after he and Andy find each other.   He dies on a battlefield, one that he and Quynh/Noriko and Andy fought on like a hundred/thousand before, champions for the abused etc.  Skip forward a couple hundred years again and enter Joe & Nicky, a Knight and a Muslim warrior who kill each other on the battlefield only to both wake up and spend (an unspecified amount of time) hunting and killing each other before eventually Andy & Quynh/Noriko find them.  In time, Joe & Nicky realize that they love each other.   (Important to note that Quynh/Noriko and Andy were also lovers).  In the movie, when the first major surge of witch hunts began, Quynh/Noriko and Andy go to help the women that stood accused, only to be captured and accused of witchcraft themselves.  After being hung, drowned, burned at the stake and coming back to life every time, the witch hunters settled on locking Quynh into an iron coffin and dropping her into the ocean.  (In the comics, Noriko is lost at sea during a massive storm that had thrown their ship entirely off course with Andy having no clue where they actually were at the time.) 

Joe & Nicky arrive in time to rescue Andy, but Noriko is already gone and despite spending decades tracking down every person even remotely involved in the so called ‘investigation’ into the women’s inquisition and punishment, Andy wasn’t able to find anything about where Quynh could be. 

Cue angst & depression & guilt for ages after.

The trio still steps in over the following decades, trying to help prevent the worst of atrocities, but Andy quickly begins to spiral into an, at best apathetic, at worst, entirely distant and withdrawn mindset and steadily begins to lose hope that they’re actually making any difference at all.

Skip ahead a century or two and enter Book; a Russian conscript who had been forced into the fight after being convicted of forgery.  Hung for desertion, Book spend days dying over and over again as he hung there, unable to attempt an escape until the troops finally packed up and moved on.   He and Andy, Nicky and Joe meet up and Book kinda reluctantly joins their little group.  It’s revealed that Book dreams, still, of Noriko/Quynh and while he can’t tell where hse is, dreams of her still dying, drowning on the floor of the ocean over and over and over like she had been for the last hundred or two years.  

Book returns at some point to his mortal family which ended in disaster when his last remaining son was dying of cancer, cursing and screaming at Book for ‘choosing not to save him’ by making him immortal too, even though it’s something Book had no ability to transfer or make happen.  Between his nightmares, losing his son and a number of other factors, Book decides he wants to end it all but no matter what he tries, doesn’t die and stay dead.

Eventually he’s approached by a pharmaceutical company that has figured out what he is and wants to run tests on him to see if they can unlock his healing / immortality for other people.  Merrick’s company works in league with an ex CIA agent whose wife died of a horrific terminal disease who hopes that they can find a way to keep anyone else from dying if they don’t have to.    Initially it was just supposed to be him, but he’d set up a display to stream for proof of what he was / they were and the corp decided they wanted all of the immortals.   Book ends up betraying the team, and he and the others end up locked up and tested on / killed / experimented on etc.  

There’s another character introduced in the meantime, the first new immortals in centuries, an American soldier named Niles.  There’s a lot more that goes on here, but the main point is that in the movie, Andy stops healing from her wounds shortly after she tracks down Nile and is put into incredible amounts of danger when Merrick (the leader of the pharmaceutical company) captures Andy, Joe, Book, Nicky.  Book is devastated, Nicky and Joe are furious, Andy’s just tired.

Eventually, Andy and the others break free with Niles’ help, destroy the lab they were originally held in etc and set out to try and hunt down any other proof, lab results, anything that Merrick got his hands on during the tests.

The group meets and settles on a hundred year exile for Booker (which I think is one of the stupidest things - like, the man’s clearly desperate and depressed and lonely and mentally unstable so by all means let’s isolate him for a fully century) and at the end of the movie we see him stumbling home to his apartment six months later to find Quynh standing in his apartment, pouring and drinking a glass of water which is a whole power move considering how many millions of times she died by drowning.

In the comics, Quynh/Noriko was driven entirely mad and to the point of wanting vengeance against Andy for abandoning her and spends a while gaslighting Andy and torturing her physically and emotionally and what not until she manages to isolate Andy from the other immortals and scoops in to ‘rescue’ Andy.  IDK what they’re going to adapt this to in the second movie, 

Again, via the link posted above, my Andy slowly begins to regain her immortality (again, IDK what they’re going to do with the next movie).  

Uhhhh yeah.  So I .. think that’s the majority of what you need to know for canon info about Andy.  THIS is also an important PSA regarding my Andy’s history & her longest lasting relationship that has nothing to do with canon at all but that is part of Andy’s bg in every verse, even if it never comes into play.

[sassyllamaspirit]

How do witches celebrate birthdays?

(link to original piece at bottom of post, this is not my research but I loved it and wanted to share. Credit to Kim at bottom)

Today is my birthday, with that I wanted to do a bit of research into it for a witch perspective. I wanted to know if there would be anything special about my magic today. This little article I found helpful. I hope you do to.

The origins of birthday celebrations

The earliest mention of a birthday dates back to around 3,000 B.C.E, where the Bible refers to a Pharaoh’s birthday in Genesis 40:20. Pharaohs were crowned by Ancient Egyptians when they were believed to have transformed into Gods - this moment signified their ‘birth’ as a God.

The Ancient Greeks continued the Egyptian tradition of celebrating the ‘birth’ of their Gods but the Romans were the first people to celebrate birthdays for non-religious individuals, such as friends and family.

Birthdays as a time for protection

The Romans held onto the Greek belief that everybody had a protective spirit or daemon that was present at his or her physical birth and kept watch over them throughout their life. According to The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952), these spirits “had a mystic relation with the God on whose birthday the individual was born,”.

Authors Ralph and Adelin Linton further explain:

“Originally the idea [of birthday greetings and wishes for happiness] was rooted in magic. The working of spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one’s personal spirits are about at that time. Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day. Good wishes bring good fortune, but the reverse is also true, so one should avoid enemies on one’s birthday and be surrounded only by well-wishers. ‘Happy birthday’ and ‘Many happy returns of the day’ are the traditional greetings”

Like many other pagan cultures, the Ancient Greeks believed that significant days, such as those involving major change, saw both good and evil spirits appear to communicate with the Gods. People would burn candles on these days for protection and to ward off the evil spirits, believing they had magickal properties and representing light in the darkness. The flames of the candles were also used to send prayers to the Gods, blowing them out after the wish had been sent.

As well as lighting candles, loved ones would offer cheerful greetings and good wishes to the birthday person, and music and singing was encouraged to deter any unwanted spirits.

Why do we give birthday presents?

Giving gifts is a tradition based on the offering of sacrifices to Gods to appease them. In particular, the Ancient Greeks celebrated the birthday of Artemis, the lunar goddess, by offering moon-shaped cakes decorated with lighted candles to represent her beauty.

Does everybody celebrate their birthday?

Based on its origins, celebrating the day you were born is considered a pagan ritual. Early Christians and Jews didn’t celebrate birthdays because of the connection to paganism and, up until the 4th century, the Christian Church believed birthday celebrations were evil.

If I celebrate my birthday, does that mean I’m pagan?

Whether you worship deities and follow pagan traditions or not, how you celebrate your birthday (if you do at all) is completely your choice. As are all magical rituals and practices.

You do not need to identify as a pagan to commemorate the day you were born, however knowledge and understanding of the origins of behind the tradition will allow you to celebrate in a way that is meaningful to you.

I will use the power of my birthday greetings for good and give thanks for the blessed fortune and protection they bring.

https://www.worldofmagick.com/post/how-do-witches-celebrate-birthdays

[magicalforcesau]

Fragments of the Garden - Origins - part 1

A companion collection to Dancing With Ghosts in Your Garden

(ao3 link)

Getting into Diagon Alley had been a bit of an event, her mother had to take off work and get Bo up and off to school before they could finally head out. The time and place on the parchment had been specified down to the minute, but as they seemed to circle the same block for the hundredth time Satine started to wonder if maybe this was all some elaborate prank.

“I’m sorry, love,” her mother finally turned to her, “It’s supposed to be right here, but I don’t see a Leaky Cauldron anywhere along this stretch,” Satine looked back down at the parchment again, rereading the same message she had a thousand times since receiving it. Disappointment started to seep into her bones and she looked up in desperation, one last time scanning the buildings around them. Her eyes drifted just right of her mum and she lit up.

“It’s there!” Satine pointed her finger at the old iron sign dangling over the door, dripping water on passing pedestrians. When she glanced up at her mother though she was only met by confusion.

“Uh, what is dear?” Her mother’s eyes seemed to skim over the building without seeing it, and Satine was struck with an odd feeling of experiencing something that her family never would.

“The Leaky Cauldron,” Satine answered, grabbing her mum’s hand in her own, “I’ll show you,” Determined she pulled them across the street and up to the building, her mum still showed no signs of acknowledgement so Satine pulled open the door and dragged her inside.

“Oh,” the soft gasp came from behind her and she glanced back to see the surprised look on her mum’s face, it seemed entering the building was enough to break through whatever weird magic surrounded the place and she followed her mum’s gaze from the owls swooping through the windows to the dishes washing themselves in the kitchen.

“You must be the last of the muggleborns,” A creature was approaching them, eyes like a hammerhead shark and face long, it took Satine a moment of staring to realize that their mouth was on their neck, “You’re a little late, but I know we can be a little hard to find,” The creature pulled out a piece of parchment and skimmed it over, “So you’re the Kryze’s?”

“I’m Satine, and this is my mum,” She found herself answering for them, her mother looked a little pale so it was probably for the best.

“You can call me Jho,” they said pulling out a brown stick, that Satine realized with belated excitement was likely a magic wand, “Follow me and I’ll let you into Diagon Alley, make sure you buy a wand when you get in there, because otherwise you’re not getting back in,” they made a sound that she assumed was a laugh and she tugged on her mum’s hand in order to follow close behind.

“How many pounds is a wand?” She wondered aloud and Jho scoffed.

“Pounds. When you get inside you should first go to Gringotts, transfer over the amount your letter told you to bring and they’ll give you real money,” They were facing a brick wall and Jho turned back to them for a moment, “Welcome to Diagon Alley,” they turned back and tapped a pattern into the bricks with their wand and suddenly the whole wall melted away, bricks turning into themselves to get out of the way and a bustling path with funnily dressed people was revealed. Satine stepped through pulling her mum in with her and the wall closed up behind them.

“Hello you must be the Kryze’s,” They turned and were greeted by someone who looked almost human, but with white and blue pieces coming from her head instead of hair, “I’m Professor Shaak Ti from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here to help our new muggleborns find their way in our world,” Satine’s mum stepped forward dropping her hand for the first time.

“It’s lovely to meet you. I must say I’m very overwhelmed,” Her mum had seemed to have gotten over the shock and Satine took the opportunity to tune out the grown-up talk and gaze around the new world she’d stepped into.

Owls seemed to be a common theme as they swooped around in broad daylight, landing near magical folks wearing a wide variety of interesting clothes. Most commonly seemed to be cloaks and funny hats, but she saw one witch wearing an outfit entirely made of feathers and hoped very much that her school uniform would not be something that itchy. Her attention was drawn next to the shop windows. There was one with a broom floating in the window, many children seemed to be gathering around it so she wondered if maybe it was a toy of some sort. A building with sweets in the window boasted such things as cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties instead of chocolate croissants and eclairs and she saw a tall wobbly looking stack of cauldrons in the next. Her eyes landed on another window jam packed with books and her heart leapt in excitement.

Satine had always been a reader. She read during both class and lunch, as well as nearly constantly at home and when she’d gotten her letter to Hogwarts, she’d read that too, but she hadn’t considered that a new world of people would provide her a new world of books to read. She found herself approaching the window, excited to read the spines until her mum was done talking when a flash of dark fabric bumped into her sending her falling backwards onto the cold stone pavement.

She looked up and her eyes met that of a witch’s, they were such a light blue they looked like ice, although Satine would maybe attribute some of that to the witch’s personality.

“Watch where you’re going, girl,” She spoke sharply, and the wizard behind her turned and rested his eyes on Satine too. His were a dark blue, but held the same kind of coldness, like how she imagined the bottom of the ocean would feel like.

“They’ll let anybody in here these days,” The first part was spoken under his breath, but not quiet enough for Satine to miss it, “We have more important things to worry about than another lost, muggleborn,” He turned on his heel and continued on.

“Don’t muggle parents teach any manners,” the witch also spoke as she turned to follow her companion further down the street.

Shocked and confused Satine continued to sit where she fell staring off after them. She jumped when suddenly a hand was thrust into her view.

“Need a hand?” She turned and looked at the newcomer, he was a boy near her own age, with a wide grin and warm brown eyes. She took his hand and he pulled her up, “Are you ok?”

“I think so,” She replied, but found herself still staring after the icy couple.

“Hey, whatever they said, don’t let it bother you,” The boy gained her attention again, “They’re pretty much as old-fashioned and traditional as you can get,”

“You know them?” Satine questioned.

“Yeah, the Kenobi’s,” the boy rolled his eyes, “My family used to attend their pureblood dinner parties until a couple years ago when my older brother Hevy lost his temper… But good riddance I’ll say, none of us Fett’s care too much about blood status politics anyways,” Satine’s head was reeling trying to make sense of it all.

“Purebloods?” Satine asked, too busy trying to catalogue all these new terms to ask it with a little more of her usual finesse.

“Purebloods are wizards whose family line is all magical,” He answered, and with the realization of who she likely was he continued, “There are halfbloods who have one magical parent and one muggle parent, and muggleborns who have 2 muggle parents.”

Satine thought back to the words the Kenobi’s had said to her and a new fire started burning in her chest. She had no time for such an old-fashioned way of thinking, she needn’t prove herself to them she’d been invited here and that was enough. Still they’d manage to plant a small seed of doubt in her mind.

“I hope I never see another Kenobi again,” She decided and the boy laughed loudly at that.

“I understand that sentiment,” He agreed, mirth still sparkling in his eyes, “By the way, the name’s Cody.”

***                                            

Riding the train had been exciting, looking up at the castle had been extraordinary, but standing next to her peers waiting to be shepherded through the doors to the great hall was as nerve wracking as it could get.

Cody, who she’d written to a few times to test her new owl, Sundari, had explained a lot of wizard things, especially the sorting. Cody laughed at her on the train and said if there was any way she was anything, but a Ravenclaw he’d eat every vomit flavored jelly bean in Honeydukes. She was still nervous though, and as the time crept closer even Cody looked a little pale.

The doors swung open suddenly and they followed the prefects inside, each student taking a moment to admire the starry night sky, before they stopped before the stool with the old sorting hat resting upon it. Cody had mentioned that they changed up the order of ceremony a lot, sometimes they’d go in alphabetical order or the reverse. Or they’d just go at random, Satine hoped that whatever way they went she’d be one of the first to get things over with.

So of course, it was her luck when they decided to go in alphabetical order anyways. Cody was called before her of course. His name was spoken loudly and it made it easy to pick out his older brother, and fourth year, Hevy who cheered embarrassingly loudly for his little brother. Cody stepped up onto the stage and sat on the stool, the hat barely sat on his head for a moment before shouting out for Gryffindor. The red and gold table cheered loudly, and Cody was smothered in a headlock by his brother as soon as he reached it.

Satine waited patiently as names were called all the way through J and readied herself for the K’s before suddenly the man up front started calling for Z’s. She felt a spark of indignant rage as they started going in reverse which would leave her as one of the last to go, she cursed her own luck as she tried and failed to not look a little grumpy.

Finally, finally her own name rang out over the crowd, and she heard some cheering from the direction of Gryffindor table as she stepped up shakily onto the stage. The hat was dropped over her eyes and she heard its voice speak through her own thoughts.

“Oh, quite right, with a mind like this it can only be,”

“RAVENCLAW!” The hat was removed from her head and she looked across the large room to see the dark blue and silver table cheering passionately for their new member. She felt something warm settle over her as she walked over to the table and was patted on the back and high-fived all the way to her seat. She’d worried a bit about belonging, but to think her place in this school had been so easily found made her grin widely. She sat down and had a minute to collect herself while they called the next student, and then maybe she could start making friends with the other Ravenclaw first years-

“Obi-Wan Kenobi!”

At first, she’d thought she was imagining the hush that crossed the room at that name given her own ears suddenly seemed muffled. She threw her gaze onto the stage as a boy with perfectly styled hair, and finely pressed robes walked poised up the steps to the stage. The words of the older Kenobi’s, who could only be his parents, rang in her ears as she frantically made eye contact with Cody over at the Gryffindor table, who gave her a worried look and a shrug. They both turned back to the stage and waited for the final verdict of who would have to put up with the son of the most pretentious wizarding family in England.

***                                            

When Obi-Wan Kenobi had first gotten his letter to Hogwarts, he’d reacted with the poise and manners that his mother had instilled in him since he was born.

“Your letter came today,” His mother had said, handing it over to him, “When your father gets home from work today, he will once again tell you what you are expected to do,” Obi-Wan didn’t spare a glance at the letter, instead keeping direct eye-contact with her.

“Yes Mother,” He replied as he had been instructed to do and she nodded in acknowledgement.

“Now leave me to my work, you may have the afternoon to reflect,” He gave her a short bow in thanks and used every ounce of willpower not to scurry out of the room. Once his mother was out of sight though, he let all pretenses drop and all but ran to his bedroom.

Throwing himself onto his bed (he mentally noted to remake it before his mother saw the wrinkles) he hugged the letter delicately to his chest and grinned in absolute elation.

He’d been dreaming about this moment for as long as he could remember, memories of bedtime stories from his parents, before they’d deemed him too old, about their own time at the school. The absolute honor that they felt having been chosen for Slytherin and how one day he too would get to experience it. He’d dreamed of the green and silver robes when he was a child, but as years passed and his responsibilities around the house grew and grew, he found himself these days just dreaming of the school itself.

He chided himself for thinking that way, but if he were honest with himself about his own selfish desires, he was wishing these days about being away from this house and away from the people within it. He knew he’d never escape the demands of his family and he would be foolish to ever try, but he certainly wouldn’t mind them not breathing down his neck every moment of the day.

Once again he shook his head, banishing the thoughts, he knew he was lucky to be a Kenobi such thoughts about his parents he really shouldn’t consider. They’d given him all the finest toys as a child, and on his 6th birthday when they’d swapped out all his toys for fancy robes, they’d gotten him only the best, plus, he remembered with excitement, they’d let him choose one sweet from Sugarplum’s and didn’t even bother to remind him that boys should not have such a fondness for chocolate.

This year, on his eleventh birthday, they’d given him the greatest gift a wizard could ever receive, he turned over on his bed eyeing the sleek Elder wand on his bedside table. It had been darkened with a varnish and there was a real strip of silver winding around the grip. It was his prized possession.

The reminder of the wand brought him back to the letter still gripped tightly in his hands. Gently he peeled back the wax seal, and pulled out the parchment within. He didn’t need to read the letter, already knowing exactly what it said, but that didn’t stop him from reading his name over and over again, wanting to memorize the script in case he was in a dream he would wake up from.

He eventually left the letter and the list, tucked back inside the envelope, on his nightstand. It was rare he had the afternoon off from chores or some sort of manners lesson, so he would be foolish to waste it daydreaming. He remade his bed, sheets perfectly smooth, and sat at his desk pulling out his father’s old transfiguration textbook for the hundredth time, flipping it back to page one.

***                                            

When Professor Windu called his name, it all became real to him. He ignored the hushed whisper that fell across the hall, his parent’s reminders to stand up straight and walk with purpose echoing loudly in his head as he started forward. His palms were sweating, but he ignored it in favor of schooling his expression to be neutral, his eyebrows pulled together slightly as the whispers got louder and the hat stared at him funny, but his father's disappointed tone smoothed his expression once more. Once he had sat down on the stool, facing the audience, he knew from experience he did not look any part nervous.

“Well, well a Kenobi, welcome back,” the hat spoke as it slid down over his eyes. It was silent for much longer than he’d expected and he fought the urge to fidget, “You seem to think you’ll be assigned to Slytherin,” The hat commented finally.

“I’m a Kenobi,” He thought back as if it was obvious, “My place is in Slytherin, like my family before me,” The hat hummed which felt very odd, like a vibration through his skull.

“Your family has fit into the Slytherin name for generations,” The hat agreed and Obi-Wan mentally agreed with satisfaction.

Yes, he was certainly on his way to following the guides his father had set up for him, he’d be a Slytherin and make friends within it, work towards becoming a legislator and-

“It’s my place to determine where you will succeed,” The hat interrupted his thoughts to muse once more, “I think the best place for you would be-”

“RAVENCLAW!”

***                                            

The hat had been silent for so long Satine had been starting to wonder if something was wrong. So, when the announcement had finally been made, she jumped in surprise before the words really registered within her mind.

“Ravenclaw,” She echoed in surprise, and the realization finally dawned on her. She watched as the pristine boy walked down from the stage, he still looked bland and neutral almost like he was bored by the whole thing and it made Satine rather mad. When he passed by her she ignored him, she would not cheer for someone like Kenobi. She did make eye contact with Cody again who seemed very surprised about something, but she would not have time to bother him about it now. The feast was beginning and even her disdain for Kenobi would have to wait until after such a marvelous feast was enjoyed.

***                                            

The feast was everything he dreamed it would be, but he found himself staring at his empty plate rather than gathering anything for himself. The Silver plate was almost right, but the blue table cloth just kept the hat’s voice echoing in his head, ‘Ravenclaw!’

Him? A Ravenclaw, that hat had to be daft, and likely had it out for him, seeing as how his parents may actually kill him for this. It wasn’t even his first day here and he’d already failed them. Surely, he’d be forced to polish every single one of his fathers awards next time he was home. For this he may even have to shine all the dishes too. Though, he supposed, he’d be lucky if they didn’t lock him up in his room all winter break.

Him, A Ravenclaw! Sure, he liked learning, but didn’t that show his ambition? That was a Slytherin trait, right? And he supposed resourcefulness and creativity could be seen as similar traits. Maybe it was because he wouldn’t describe himself as cunning, but he couldn’t really see himself as witty either.

He noticed suddenly that there were eyes on him. He looked up from the table, suddenly realizing where he was and made automatic eye contact with a girl across the table from him. She was also a first-year judging by her robes, she had hair the color of wheat and eyes the color of the sky which she was using to glare at him now that she had his attention.

“Um, hello there,” He greeted, nearly biting off his own tongue for using a filler word, his father would really have his head come winter break, if this was the path he’d be going down.

“Don’t tell me you’re not planning to eat anything,” Her voice was filled with fire, “You know that’s quite rude,” He didn’t know what had provoked her, but he did realize that perhaps what she said may be true.

“Well, it’s not really your business, but I’ve no appetite this evening,” He retorted, but still glanced at the feast around him for something to take, he didn’t want to offend the staff. He reached for a roll, but suddenly the food vanished and the desserts appeared.

“Serves you right,” She said, before ignoring him in place of spooning pudding onto her own plate.

Obi-Wan stared at the desserts lining the table, there were many he’d always wanted to try and his eyes kept coming back to the chocolate pudding. He caught himself mentally begging the girl to call him out again as an excuse to have some, but she didn’t, so he just stared off across the room at the Slytherin table and listened to his mother’s voice echoing in his head.

[myhauntedsalem]

Bathsheba Sherman

After a infant dies in her care, a woman by the name Bathsheba Sherman was accused by her local community of being a witch and working in league with the devil. Although found innocent, locals still held onto their beliefs.

The name was made popular in ‘The Conjuring’ but who was Bathsheba Sherman?

Many of you have no doubt seen ‘The Conjuring’ and a few have asked the page whether the movie is real or not. Many of the questions have been about the ‘witch’ Bathsheba Sherman, so rather than detailing all of the hauntings in full, which would be quite an interesting task indeed and one that would take a long while, I thought I would just focus on Bathsheba herself and see what facts are present.

Bathsheba Thayer was born on Rhode Island in 1812, and, in her early thirties, she married Judson Sherman who was one year older than her on March 10, 1844. About five years later they had a son named Herbert.

The shermans owned a farm in which Judson worked during the long days while Bathsheba kept house and looked after their young son. Although it is believed that the Shermans had several other children, a girl and two more boys, there are no records to substantiate this or the fact they were all meant to have died in their young years.

However, living the good life it was all to turn around for Bathsheba when a infant died whilst in her care. Different sources get a little bit sketchy on just whose baby it was, some say it was a neighboring family‘s while others say it was one of the Sherman children, but the result was the same… the cause of death was found to be an impalement at the base of the child’s skull, probably from a large gauge sewing needle, and Bathsheba was put on trial (or at the least a inquiry was carried out).

Many of the townsfolk believed the child’s death was a sacrifice on Bathsheba’s part to the devil, or some form of witchcraft. There was much jealousy aimed towards Bathsheba, she was beautiful and many of the local women coveted her looks, no doubt some of this envy fueled the rumors.

However Bathsheba was cleared of any wrong doing, there was insufficient evidence to find her guilty of murder, accidental or otherwise. Unfortunately the law courts are not the only courts, and it was the court of public opinion that was to do the most damage and cause Bathsheba to lead a more sheltered life thereafter.

Locals held onto their belief that she was up to dark deeds and possibly some of them knew stuff that we can not possibly know today, after such a long period of time.

Something changed in her after this time, she became embittered and began to treat the hired help on the farm poorly. She would physically assault them, and in some instances starve them, not to death, but rather fed them poorly.

Bathsheba never hanged herself, but rather lived to quite an old age. She had outlived her husband Judson by four years when she died at the age of 72/73 (her exact date of birth is not known but the date of her death was May 25, 1885).

She died from a strange case of paralysis which doctors did not completely understand at the time. Reportedly the medical report on her death states that her body had turned as if to stone. This no doubt further fueled the rumors of Bathsheba Sherman being a witch, having made a deal with the devil.

Her son Herbert outlived her, had a family and children of his own.

Bathsheba is buried in the Harrisville Cemetery, the fenced off enclosure also holds the headstone of her husband. Bathsheba’s headstone had been broken in half, possibly by vandals or those taunting her in death. She was well known of before the movie was released, though not by as many people.

Since the release of The Conjuring and the surrounding hype Bathsheba’s headstone has been repeatedly vandalized.

With so much attention it seems the court of public opinion still has her guilty .

But was she a witch?

Asides from the strange death of the child in her care and the public opinion there are no hard facts as to this being the case. However there probably would not be either way. If she had caused that child’s death, and had done so via impaling the infants skull, then that is an unforgivable act in any aspect.

The main photograph with this post is said to be the oldest surviving photo of what was then known as the Arnold Farmhouse, which nearly a hundred years after this photo was taken would be purchased by the Perron family. There are several websites and researchers that believe the woman in the chequered dress at the front is Bathsheba Sherman, who lived on a neighboring property. If it is her then this photo would have been taken just before her death, as it was taken at about 1885.

As for the haunting, the Perrons have stated there is some confusion as to Bathsheba’s role in the whole affair. Roger Perron believes the entity he saw one night was that of a woman who had hanged herself in the barn (in her 90’s). She appeared with a very obvious broken neck, the face seemed to change form, from looking like a desiccated hornets nest (cracks, ridges, deep gouges) to that of a old woman with a vacant stare.

However Cynthia saw something slightly different as revealed in this interview:

“I was playing upstairs with the Little People, and the door opens to the closet. I thought it was one of my sisters coming through the door, but it wasn’t. It was an older woman with her head tilted to the side and her arms out (she was wearing gray dress with little yellow flowers all over it, and a gray apron or pinafore.) She had a handkerchief held out. I looked at the face, just for a second, and then I looked down and saw the handkerchief. I didn’t see any feet.

So I jumped up and bolted. I ran through the next bedroom and down those stairs, but I was running so fast that I missed the landing in the middle of the stairs. So, I ended up kind of going down them on my butt.

.Well, my mom just happened to be coming in from the kitchen, which meets at the bottom of the stairs, and she basically caught me. I was hysterical, and, at that time, holding my back and trying to explain to her what just happened. And she’s more concerned about what’s going on with my back. And I’m like, ‘I don’t care about that, mom. She just came to me and said, “Come to me, little girl. Come to me, little girl.”

The link with Bathsheba and the haunting was made when Carolyn Perron (the mother) was lying on a sofa when she felt a sharp prick in her leg followed by muscle spasms. When she checked her leg she found a small amount of blood coming from a perfectly circular hole in her leg. It was Lorraine Warren (an investigator who worked on the case) who went on to suggest that that mark was very similar to what was described as having been done to the infant who died under Bathsheba’s care.

[thebiblesalesman]

Right now I think there's a missed opportunity to work backwards from the Ayutthaya map and add a larger Thailand map and a Thai hero. I say "work backwards" because usually FFA maps like Necropolis or Kanezaka are based off an existing regular map and reuse assets from that map, but at the moment Ayutthaya is sort of standalone.

So a Thai hero or another hero from a SE Asian country are pretty high on my personal wishlist. I think SE Asia is outside the comfort zone for the US gaming industry, but Blizzard has the resources to pull it off- and they've even mentioned a character from Vietnam! And...he's in Talon... So how about someone who's not in Talon, but aside from that please go for it.

I can tell you from experience that it is not a burden to make a global cast. It is a joy, a learning experience, and an asset to the creative process. And if you take time to actually invite people from the population you are representing into the conversation, you end up with rich, convincing characters for people around the world to find themselves in.

Sometimes it's not a clean split like people from the US identify with the US characters or every Japanese person loves Genji (definitely not true), but authentically conveying someone's country invokes pride and love and familiarity, like Sigma's voiceline about stroopwafels or his spray where he eats salted herring. They also did a good job with Echo, except Echo is a robot so who cares lol.

I'm biased here- Genji is my favorite hero. I spent 3 years making up Shimada lore because I couldn't get enough of it. Yet even with that, I'm not completely sold on another Japanese hero that is part of the Shimada. I don't know that we need another hero to continue telling Genji and Hanzo's story, and my worry is that this person will be another anachronistic "I don't know what a gun is" caricature like the brothers (and like a lot of Japanese characters across all media).

It might be even worse than that. Genji and Hanzo bear a resemblance to a theatric character in kabuki called a hitogami ("man-god"), a warrior who grants possession of their body to a guardian deity. The presence of a dragon spirit connected to an elite family relates to a similar concept called ujigami. Hitogami tend to be protagonists in kabuki, and ujigami is also a positive concept.

But while foxes in Japan can be revered as messengers of the divine, they also have shades of trickery and possession by a fox is associated with witchcraft. There are also stories about foxes transforming into beautiful women and seducing men so that they can cause mischief. From the GameInformer silhouettes article, it seems likely that this new Shimada hero is female, and the "messenger of the divine" from Japanese Inari worship probably translates more to "servant of the Shimada" in Overwatchverse Japan.

So this female character would be a servant or assassin of the Shimada, who probably ran into Genji when he was on his "destroy the Shimada Clan" mission, and whose history is now tied to the brothers instead of being allowed to introduce new ideas.

And that's the real reason I think you'd want to add a new character from the same country- to show us new things about the culture, to explain that not everyone in Japan owns a katana, stuff like that. Sombra's initial concept was a Japanese hero named Omniblade whose theme was street fashion- I think that would be an awesome hero!

And I'm not trying to say you can't have a Japanese female hero associated with foxes. In fact I really like folktales about foxes (try watching the first 12 minutes of Akira Kurosawa's "Dreams", though tw for a suicide mention).

Rather, in this case it's the combination of factors that are setting off some alarm bells in my head right now. There are even things that aren't even from Blizzard that I think about, like the "Good Hunting" short from Netflix's Love Death + Robots last year, which is about the Chinese hulijing (fox spirit from which the Japanese kitsune inherited a lot of its more negative traits) and contains a ton of misogyny and sexual violence. Basically, I've seen this subject mishandled before.

It's also because I know Blizzard has in the past Google-translated Japanese on Hanzo's skins/the infamous Hanamura map scroll, which suggests to me that there aren't any Japanese people working on these Japanese characters. To be fair I think it's gotten a lot better in recent years- the Tengu skins, for example, are awesome. Hanzo's dance is awesome (I'm a real sucker for anything involving dancing or food). Weirdly enough, although Hanzo's skins have been the butt of jokes, Genji's Oni skin from 2017 not only had appropriate translations but really cool connections to actual figures from Japanese history.

And getting translations and cultural points right is a big deal. People can tell if you're a white person trying to write a Japanese person's story without study or visiting the country. If you have the resources, you absolutely should have cultural consultants and sensitivity readers, or even people from other countries directly on your dev team!

Like I mentioned Sigma, who was developed with the help of Dutch staff, but did you know that this year Blizzard shut down their office in The Hague? It was not a dev office, but if you're shutting down your links to a community, how are you going to make heroes that connect to that community? In a similar vein, the person who added an explicitly SE Asian character to an Overwatch story was of Filipino & Chinese descent herself, but now she's left the company. And Michael Chu, who for better or worse has been considered the face of Overwatch's story, has also left.

I don't know enough about this hero to comment further, but those are my current thoughts. I'm real interested to see the starting line-up for Overwatch 2. At the moment I think this hero, Sojourn, Mauga, and Junkerqueen are guaranteed. It would be cool if they added Asian heroes outside of Japan/China/Korea, but I would still appreciate another MEKA pilot or another Japanese hero too, so long as they are showcasing something different.

[slytherinroses]

Meet you on the other side

‘Won’t be long now’ the healer whispered, as she packed away her satchel. 

 ‘At least they aren’t in pain’ a woman replied looking fondly at the pair in the bed in front of her 

 ‘Would they tell you if they were?’ the healer chuckled 

 ‘Probably not’ the woman answered 

 Harry James Potter- Snape aged 600 years and his husband Severus Tobias Potter - Snape aged 620 years, lay in the four poster bed in the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Any suggestions of being moved to St Mungo’s had been swiftly dismissed; this was where their love had been born, and where it would continue on to the other side. 

 Their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren and so on, gathered in the room, which thanks to the ability of magic had been made somewhat larger than normal. 

The eldest of the 4 children Jo, smiled as she sat in the chair by her parents beside, flashes of their lives rolled through her mind like a muggle movie reel. Jo had been in her 5th year at Hogwarts when the 3rd war broke out, some lunatic thinking that the magical community had enjoyed enough peace over the last 15 years, it was time for darkness to reign once more. 

Severus and Harry had stood together beside Jo and her younger brother Tim and fought the madness. Much like the first time her dads had faced a madman, it was the combination of their powerful magical core that destroyed yet another dark force. 

Sadly it was discovered that the mastermind behind the battle had been someone that her dad (Harry) had grown up with, considered family. Maybe it was the loss of his twin brother that set George Weasley on the path of no return, sadly no one would ever know. 

 They had both continued to teach at Hogwarts, her dad defence against the dark arts and her pa Potions until only 4 months ago when their health rapidly declined and both were forced to give it up. Wasn’t that a battle and a half Jo recalled, running her hand over Harry’s and Severus’ whose fingers were entwined. 

 Even now on the fringe of death they were still wrapped around the other, inseparable til the end. A love like theirs was paramount to anything Jo or her brothers and sister had ever or would ever experience. Although they had taught their children to love with their whole selves, nothing compared to what her parents had. 

 ‘Are you ready my love?’ Severus asked Harry through their mind link, no longer able to communicate effectively 

 ‘More than ready’ Harry replied patting his husbands hand 

‘We’ve had many great times in this bed Sev’ 

 ‘Trust you to be thinking of shagging when we are at deaths door’ Severus scoffed 

 ‘You going to tell me, if you could you wouldn’t jump my bones one last time?’ Harry chuckled 

 ‘Perhaps’ Severus replied casually, I’d rather like to focus on our achievements, than a roll in the sheets, not that I haven’t enjoyed every roll’ 

 ‘My greatest achievement was you my sweet Sev, you and our wonderful family’ Harry said wistfully 

 ‘And you mine my darling, I was a better man, husband, father and teacher because of your love’ Severus answered warmly 

 ‘I think it’s time to go Sev’ Harry whispered, feeling himself slip away 

‘See you on the other side my heart’ 

 ‘I’ll meet you there my soul’ Severus replied as he took his final breath. 

 The souls of Severus and Harry Potter -Snape departed the magical world, their hearts full and their minds at ease. Bathed in a bright shimmering light, the pair looked down over their family and smiled, through her tears Jo looked at her parents and blew them one last kiss.

 Their precious girl had always had that extra sixth sense when it came to her fathers. Blowing her a kiss, Harry and Severus vanished from sight, ready to begin anew. Jo leaned over and kissed her fathers foreheads, pulling the blanket up so it rested over their shoulders.

 ‘I love you’ she whispered, tears spilling from her eyes. Severus and Harry were buried on the grounds of Hogwarts under their favourite beech tree by the black lake, when they had first started dating or courting as Severus had referred to it, many an hour was spent beneath that tree, talking, snogging and Jo was certain other activities that had taken place. 

It was where the love they had blossomed and where it would nurture the ground beneath them for centuries to come. 

 ‘See you on the other side guys’ Jo smiled

[seraphjewel]

Little Hope Thoughts: The Clarkes

This post will contain spoilers for Little Hope. Out of courtesy, I am going to put everything under a cut.

I want to put out two disclaimers before I get too far into this. The first is that this is only my interpretation of the story and the characters. I'm not claiming that this is correct or even the only way the events of Little Hope can be understood. Second, I am not familiar with magical practices or pagan beliefs. Again, I'm only basing all of my interpretations on what we're presented within the confines of this game.

I want to first focus on the Clarke family, and specifically the way that they died in the fire. There are five magical elements and each one correlates to a death. The element of earth is represented in the father James, who was crushed to death by the roof falling on him. The element of water is represented in the mother Anne, who died from smoke inhalation while in the bathroom preparing to take a bath. The element of air is represented in the older sister Tanya, whose scarf was caught on the balcony when she tried to jump thus leaving her hanging in the air. The element of fire is represented by the younger sister Megan, who was burned alive. The element of metal is represented by the brother Dennis, who is impaled on metal spikes.

I acknowledge that being hung is only one of two possible ways that Tanya can die. She can also die if she goes back inside the house and is burnt, which does ruin the theory of each Clarke family death correlating with a magical element. But I personally find that death really ridiculous-- why would you go back inside a burning house-- and am going to stick with her hanging death.

We can look at this a step farther with the trophies the player receives when saving each of them. Saving John earns you the “Heavy Burden” trophy, which again ties into the connection with earth. Saving Angela earns you the “We Are of Water” trophy which is probably the most obvious of them. Taylor's trophy is called “Free Spirit” and to me that links her to air. Daniel's trophy is called “Unbroken” which can refer to how metal is strong and difficult to break. Admittedly Mary's trophy, “Forgiveness”, doesn't tie into fire in any obvious way. But when I thought about it more I remembered that sacrifices were made by fire to seek forgiveness of sin.

You may be wondering what any of this has to do with anything. If you collect all of the clues you'll learn that Anthony had taken an interest in the occult and had a book on pagan beliefs with him the night he crashed his bus. You'll also learn that Reverend Leonard Carson (the reverend in the 70's) had an interest in the occult and was charged with teaching the youth. It isn't difficult to conclude that Anthony made the same connection of the deaths of his family that I just did, linking each one to a magical element. One clue points you to a newspaper where they determine it was a child's doll that started the fire. According to the pagan book Anthony was reading before the crash, poppets/dolls were believed to be linked to the person they were fashioned after-- sort of like voodoo dolls. Anthony could have believed that it was because the doll burnt that his younger sister Megan died in the fire.

But wait, there's even more to this! The player learns that whether the characters live or die isn't actually the goal in the story. The idea is to “save” them, and the main four characters (John, Angela, Daniel, Taylor) are saved when they confront their demons and tell the others to leave them behind. Since these four characters exist only in Anthony's mind, we have to then assume he was worried they were all damned and that through the game the player is making decisions to change the characters' attitudes and personality. In the short time we have with the Clarke family, we see that three of the four characters exhibit some behavior that at the time would've been considered sinful or influenced by the Devil. The father was an alcoholic, the sister was into hippy stuff and had some magical items, and the brother was into rock and roll and was in a band. I couldn't see any specific behavior of the mother that would've been considered sinful, which is why I think Angela was “saved” by her being supportive and her and John fighting their demons together at the end. Also her name, Angela, includes the word “angel” which emphasizes Anthony’s perception of her being more innocent than others in his family.

This still leaves saving Mary and Andrew. The way you “save” Mary is exposing Reverend Carver (the reverend in the 17th century) as a practitioner of the occult and getting him taken away. I have a lot of thoughts about Mary/Megan that I'm going to save for another post, but I'll try to condense it a little here. In the 70's we see all the characters (except for Anthony) yelling at her, pushing her away, treating her like a nuisance, or ignoring her. Megan has a piece of dialogue where she says “they blame me for everything”. I can see Anthony perceiving the newspaper pointing at the child's toy as the cause of the fire as yet another person blaming Megan for something. So putting the blame on anyone else would be breaking that cycle.

Andrew was “saved” in my play-through as well, though as of this moment I don't know if it was because I saved Mary or because Vince had Anthony arrested. I know that saving the other four doesn't matter since I hadn't managed to save Taylor in that play-through, which leaves Mary's ending and Vince's ending as the only factors. The interpretation of “saving” him will change depending on which of those factors actually played into his salvation. If he was saved by helping Megan, to me that means he carried the most guilt over her death. In his mind she was probably an innocent child with no perceived sinful influence. Also, he was her older brother and would feel that responsibility to care and look out for her. Not to mention the poppet correlation I mentioned earlier. When you do save Mary and she thanks you, his response is: “But I didn't save you.” You can interpret this literally, as in he was unable to save her in the burning house; you could also interpret this metaphorically, as in he wasn't able to save her from the corrupt reverend. It feels like that moment is him acknowledging this is wishful thinking on his part. I originally interpreted “saving” him by getting him arrested. Anthony has been living with the guilt and trauma of the fire for about forty years and it's possible that while he was judged innocent in the 70's, he never fully accepted that and still blamed himself. When he was arrested in my play-through, he seemed at peace with it. In that way “saving” him is giving him peace about the role he believes he played in his family's deaths, by having it acknowledged and punished, something he no doubt believes is long overdue.

There’s also the achievement of “save Andrew from himself” that you earn if the four characters are killed. Since I earned this by accusing Mary of witchcraft and having the demons kill everyone, I can’t say for sure the factor involved. Was Andrew saved because all of these visions were killed at the house, or would he have been saved no matter how the four were killed? Either way, it’s clear to me that letting the characters die saves him from their ghosts, the parts of them he hasn’t let go of for all these years. He was also arrested in my ending, so he could have been saved from himself in that any reaction to losing his family again was taken out of his hands.

Since this game is focusing on a person's salvation by confronting their demons, either option is valid.

I have more thoughts on other aspects of the game but I wanted to start with this.

[readerbookclub]

Once again, we’re back with a new book list! This is our first time using a theme, so fingers crossed that I did a good job 🤞

Since it’s October, I thought something spooky would be appropriate. So this list is full of books (mostly horror!) about a different monsters/creatures. Hope you like it and please don’t forget to use the link at the end to vote for your favourite!

@lilian-evans had a great idea that I should introduce each book and explain how it ties to the theme, so that’s what I did.

A scary creatures list would be incomplete without a book about vampires, so that’s where we’re going to start. This book is about a group of suburban mums slaying vampires. Quite an unusual premise, but definitely an intriguing one. It also doesn’t hurt that the main characters are part of a book club, as are we!

1.  The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood. But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community. 

***

Our next book has two creatures rolled into one! A woman sentenced to witchcraft comes back to haunt the town where she was killed. The book seems to be more ghosty than wtichy, but hey, who doesn’t love a good ghost story?!

2.  Hex, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and translated by Nancy Forest-Flier

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves. Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened. The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in so doing send the town spiraling into the dark, medieval practices of the past.

***

Now for a real witch story! Although I was able to find some horror witch books, I decided to go with something a little different with this one. More of a fantasy than a horror book, this novel is a multi-generational story about a family of witches. 

3. A Secret History of Witches, by Louisa Morgan

After Grandmére Ursule gives her life to save her tribe, her magic seems to die with her. Even so, her family keeps the Old Faith, practicing the spells and rites that have been handed from mother to daughter for generations. Until one day, Ursule’s young granddaughter steps into the circle, and magic flows anew. From early 19th century Brittany to London during the Second World War, five generations of witches fight the battles of their time, deciding how far they are willing to go to protect their family, their heritage, and ultimately, all of our futures.

***

I’m not going to say too much about the next book so as to avoid spoilers, but there is a demon involved. From what I’ve gathered from reviews, this novel is told through quite an interesting perspective. And I think I’ll leave it at that...

4. Come Closer, by Sara Gran

If everything in Amanda's life is so perfect, then why the mood swings, the obscene thoughts, the urge to harm the people she loves? What are those tapping sounds in the walls? And who's that woman following her? The mystery behind what's happening to Amanda in Come Closer is so frightening that it "ought to carry a warning to...readers."

***

For our last book, I decided to go with a classic novel. I wanted a book about an infamous creature that almost everybody’s heard of. And so, I chose a novel that created one of the most iconic monsters in pop culture...

5. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

The story of Victor Frankenstein and the monstrous creature he created has held readers spellbound ever since it was published two centuries ago. On the surface, it is a novel of tense and steadily mounting horror; but on a more profound level, it offers searching illumination of the human condition in its portrayal of a scientist who oversteps the bounds of conscience, and of a monster brought to life in an alien world, ever more desperately attempting to escape the torture of his solitude. A novel of hallucinatory intensity, Frankenstein represents one of the most striking flowerings of the Romantic imagination.

***

Thank you so much for making it to the end of the list! 

Vote here: https://forms.gle/bGo5viNTCfn9qM2K8

Members List: @solitarystudies @endystudyblog @mybookishescapes @gordinmegan @sillyarcadeexpert  @appleinducedsleep @morphedphase @zorasmith @justmesoffie @meatofslaughtaredbeggar @unicornlurvvv @lilian-evans @mishousdiaries @macgilliluv @omgreading @bowieziggyfan @calebprior25 @sanatoriaa 

As always, if you’d like to be added to/removed from this list, please message me :)

[lovemesomesurveys]

If you were a witch, which animal would be your familiar? I don’t what a familiar is or anything about witchcraft.

If there's a design on your shirt, what is it? I literally just described it in the previous survey I did, but it has Ralphie from A Christmas Story on it with a bar of soap in his mouth and says, “Oh, fudge”, which is a quote from the movie.

If it was possible to colonize any planet and you were the leader, which planet would you choose? I really wouldn’t want to be the leader of anything. I’m not fit for that.

Is there a piece of technology that you just can't live without? I mean, I’m pretty attached to my laptop and phone, but of course if for some reason I couldn’t have them I would survive, but it’d be really quite boring. I don’t have much to do.

Would you ever visit a ghost town? That would be interesting.

What's the last thing you ordered from the last fast food place you went to? Loaded potato wedges and 3 egg rolls from Jack in the Box.

Which natural disaster scares you the most? They all sound terrifying. I’ve never experienced one. What're your religious beliefs and why do you follow them? I’m a Christian. I believe in God and that Jesus died for our sins and is our Savior.

What do you think happens after you die? I believe in heaven and hell.

What would you do if you found out your life was only a simulation controlled by someone else? That’s scary. I’ve had thoughts like that, though. Like a Truman Show scenario or that one day I’ll wake up and find out my whole life has been a dream.

What's the scariest thing you've accidentally found on the internet? Ugh, I HATED when jump scare things would go around. Like, people would disguise as a link for something else and then you click it and it’s some ugly, creepy looking girl screaming really loud. OH, and there was that one with the car that was driving down some winding road and you’re watching and waiting to see what the video is about and then bam! something pops up on the scream and scares you. Ughhh. Not cool. I’m such a jumpy person as it is already.

Is there anything bothering you right now? The usual stuff as always.

Thinking of every Halloween costume you've had, which one was the most creative? I never had a really creative one. They were pretty simple.

What song are you currently listening to and what song was the last you listened to? I’m not listening to music.

What's the picture on your calendar for this month? I don’t have a calendar for this year at the moment.

If you were a mythical creature, which would you be? A fairy.

If you were an animal, which would you be? A dog.

Were you ever bullied when you were younger and how did you handle it? I wasn’t, fortunately. It was something my parents worried about when I was in elementary school because I’m in a wheelchair, but honestly I never had any issues with anyone. The only bullying I receive is from myself on a regular basis. 

What do you remember most from being five years old? I have some vague, bits and pieces of memories from kindergarten. 

What do you remember most from being ten years old? I have some memories from 4th grade. My favorite teacher ever was my 4th grade teacher (who later ended up teaching 8th grade and I had him again) and I remember funny stuff he did and like how he read out loud to us books such as Matilda and he would the voices and made it fun for us. He also used to sing, and I remember one time he led all of us in a rendition of “I Want It That Way” by The Backstreet Boys lol. He was so cool. Oh, and he was known for doing “the robot” dance and miming. 

What do you remember most from being fifteen years old? Stuff from high school.

What does the last person you found attractive look like? Alexander Skarsgard is 6′4, has blonde hair, blue eyes, is very fit and in shape, and Swedish. He’s absolutely gorgeous.

Have you ever thrown something away and then wanted it back? Yes. I hold onto a lot of stuff that will sit in a box somewhere forever, but then if I get rid of something I’ll suddenly wish I still had it or have a need for it again.

What's one random city you want to visit? Seattle.

If you owned a store, what would you most likely sell? Books. It would have a cafe, too.

If you had a garden, what sort of plants would you grow? I don’t know, man. I have zero interest in gardening.

What's your favorite phase of the moon? I don’t have one.

What're your plans for today? I’ll attend my church’s livestream and then do the normal things I do everyday. 

What's the song for your life right now? I don’t know.

Do you believe that when you die, you get to see all your loved ones again? Yes.

Who would you be the most excited to see? My grandparents. 

Have you lost or almost lost someone close to you to death this year? Not so far...  I don’t want to think about that.

Did you lose any of your friends this year and if so, how? I don’t have any friends to lose. 

Have you experienced anything new this year and if so, what? Not so far, but we’re only in January. 

Do you enjoy reading National Geographic magazines? I’ve only read a few. 

Would you rather read the book or watch the movie? I love to read and I’m down to check out the movie.

Do you know anyone who's serving in the military right now? No.

Does or did either of your parents serve in the military? Nope.

Has anything in your house ever caught on fire? No.

Have you ever hugged a stranger you thought was someone else? No. Omg, that would be super embarrassing. I’ve waved to someone I thought was someone else, but never went so far as to hug someone I thought was someone else.  As a small child, did you ever feel as if you were different or weird? No, not really.

If you could instantly know any language in the world, what would it be? I’d like to be fluent in Spanish.

This year, how many times have you been to the doctor? So far just once. I go once a month and we’re only in January. 

Do you have a library card and if so, do you use it often? Nope. I haven’t had a library card since I was in high school.

Do you like romcoms and if you do, which one is your favorite? Yeah, I’m a sucker for the romcoms. I have several favorites.

Thinking of your ex and the person you love, are they similar in any way at all? I don’t have a significant other or someone I’m interested in at the moment.

Is there something you currently want and/or need that you can’t have? Yes.

Thinking back to six weeks ago, were you happier then or are you happier now and why? Neither then or now. 

Who's the first male you can think of whose name begins with "T" and what can you tell me about him? Thomas, my maternal grandpa. He sadly passed away 10 years ago. Both of my maternal grandparents passed away. I was very close with both of them and losing them was very hard for me. I miss them both every single day. My grandpa was an amazing man. He was the best husband, father, and grandpa. He was hardworking. He provided well for his family. He was loving. He was so funny. He told the best stories. He was known for being a talker haha, he could go on and on for hours, but everyone always wanted to hear what he had to say. And sometimes he’d go off on tangents, but the stories always came for circle. He was just an incredible man, well loved and missed by many.

Can you say "happy birthday" in another language? Yeah, “Feliz cumpleaños.” 

What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math was always my worst subject, I barely scraped by with Cs.

Should you be concentrating on something else instead of this survey? Nah. This is my nighttime routine.

Have you ever told someone that you loved them and they rejected you? I didn’t tell them I loved them, but I expressed my feelings for them and was rejected. Twice.

Do you know anyone else that's happened to? Yeah.

Is there anything you want to say to someone, but you can’t or won’t? Not at this time. What're your reasons for not saying it? --

Who's someone in the music industry you think is overrated? Taylor Swift. Don’t for me, Swifties. 

Who's the eleventh contact in your phone and when did you last see or speak to that person? I’m not checking. 

What’s your mother’s middle name? I’m not sharing that.

When was the last time you ate cake and what type of cake was it? I had some red velvet cake a few days ago.

Have you ever been told you were too good or not good enough for someone you loved? I had friends who said I was too good for Joseph. I wasn’t good enough, though.

Why do you think someone would say that to you? They didn’t like how he treated me and thought he was too immature.

If the last person you kissed said you were the only one they wanted, would you believe them? That was 8 years ago, I don’t see him ever saying that now...

Who was your first crush, how do you feel about that person now and do you still talk to them? My first crush was this kid Philip when I was in 3rd grade lol it was just some little crush, I was 9. He didn’t even know me.

Who was the last person that apologized to you and what was it for? I don’t recall.

So how're things going with the person you love? There’s no such person.

Are you "in love" with the last person you kissed? No. I moved on years ago.

Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? I haven’t added a photo for any of my contacts.

Who was the last person to comment on one of your photos on Facebook and how did you meet that person? I think it was my Nana. 

How many of your friends are sexually active?

To finish, is there anything you would like to say to someone? Sigh.

Do you think surveys are annoying? They can be sometimes, but I really do enjoy doing them. Clearly.

What career paths are you considering? I don’t know. :/

Do you watch music videos? I haven’t in a long time.

Have you ever clicked on those banner ads that promise a prize for clicking? No. I definitely don’t miss popup ads. 

What kind of computer are you using? Macbook Air.

What kind of computer do you wish you were using? I’m happy with this one.

Have you ever had a weight change so drastic you went to the doctor? I didn’t see a doctor for it specifically, but yeah it was concerning. It’s still a problem I’m struggling with. 

How cold does it have to be before you put on a sweater? In the 60s F, I’d say. 

Do you eat things off the floor? Never.

Who do people say you look like? My mom.

Do you usually get your homework done on time? I’m done with school, but yeah I always got my homework done on time. I may have been a major procrastinator, but my work always got done.

Have you ever framed your old movie ticket stubs? Not framed, but kept.

Do you have a digital camera? Nope.

Have you ever stuck something inappropriate in an electrical outlet? No. I’m afraid to plug in things that meant to go in there as it is.

What do you have anything scheduled for the 16th of this or next month? We’re past the 16th now, but no I didn’t have anything going on that day and I don’t have anything planned for that day next month either.

Can you sleep without any pillows? No. I can’t sleep flat, I have to be propped up.

Is there a color you refuse to wear? I don’t like to wear white.

Has anyone ever pulled a gun on you? No, but I am a victim of random gun violence. 

Are there any chairs in your bedroom? My chair. There’s an ottoman that could also be a chair as well.

How many pairs of shoes do you have? Like 6 or 7.

How much was the last item of clothing you bought? My total was $40 for 2 shirts, but I ordered online so there’s additional fees. 

Where's your father right now? He’s in his room asleep.

Do you skip breakfast often? Yeah.

How many days has it been since your last birthday? My birthday was 6 months ago.

Do you want any more siblings than you have now? Nah, at 31 years old I can’t imagine having another sibling. 

Would you make a good president or prime minister? Nope. I have no desire to be one.

Are you going out of the country soon and if so, where to? No. I don’t have any travel plans and who knows when I will at this point. :(

Do you ever feel like you want to get away from everything? Yeppp.

Do you need a haircut? I could use a trim.

When was the last time you went on a trampoline? Never.

Were you alone today? I’m alone right now in my room cause everyone else is asleep, but they’re here in the house. My dad is off today and will be home all day. My mom and brother have work, but they’ll be home at some point.

Who was the last person you saw today? The day isn’t over yet, it’s only 4:51AM, but I’m willing to bet my brother will be the last person I see cause he and I stay up late.