#I AM SO EXCITED TO LEARN ABOUT GRAVEYARDS OK
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Thank you @louveclaviere for inviting me to join! Sorry for the delay uwu
Rules:
post the top 5 works you're most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular),
your top 4 current WIPs that you're excited to release in the new year,
your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year,
your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year,
and your number 1 favorite line you've written this year!
tagging @willofhounds @littleunigreekdreamer @ggadtomarry (No pressure!)
Top 5 Works!!
Well, not many really-
Pride of a Graveyard Flower
I am very, very happy about this. Mostly because so many ideas gosh and the scene that prompted me still isn't here! Harry is still building his power base (not that he will agree to it) and he met LV finally, properly at chapter 48 so can you say I am impatient? I love every thing about this. Theo, Evan, Mippy, Scabier, Rosa and Death <33 Ugh, shatter that Dark Lord's confidence, my little necromancer!
A Handful of Dreams
Somehow it went from soft angst to fluff to all combination and I don't know how it happened? But I wanted to see if I strip everything that made Harry the chosen one, will LV still be his fated? YES, yes he is!
A Parody of Emotions
The fic where I let go of all my sadistic intentions- it was so fun torturing our boy~ digging out what could make him jump and most importantly the challenge of tying a LV in canon era to Harry irrevocably oooo
I Adored You, Time and Again
I haven't managed to give it as much time as I want mostly cause irl screwed with me hard, but this is particularly beloved to me with how beautiful it is in my mind. I never thought I would write Grindelwald in a lvhp fic, but here we go
A Parody of Emotions
The fic where I let go of all my sadistic intentions- it was so fun torturing our boy~ It was interesting digging out what could make him jump and most importantly the challenge of tying a LV in canon era to Harry irrevocably oooo
Petal Soft Plunder
Not a tomarry fic-!! but god the darkness I hid in every smile of Mr. Riddle *chef's kiss
=.=
4 CURRENT WIPS!!
Ok there are a lot of things I had in mind ^.^*
Death Eater Harry fic
Less of angst, and not crack either. But going with a cute and fluffer tone. I am not saying there won't be dark things there (LV<) but it is def going to be a cute af, reckless Harry
2. Yona of the Dawn inspired fic
Inspired! There won't be anything like the anime. But there is def betrayal and a lot of wife-chasing in there lol
3. A non-human series
A plan in progress to make Harry every creature available and then make it Tomarry/lvhp- simply because I am out to prove that they will be together no matter what hehe maybe crcky, or fluffy or serious who knows!
4. A non-human Harry one-shot
Not a cracky one. Inspired by a folk-tale but I won't say it!
=.=
Three Improvements!!
Learned to be flexible. Sometimes I have to write a draft first and sometimes I can type it out to sit- I don't have to worry endlessly over which one if perfect and which is not
Experimented with changing my tone of writing (?) It was loads of fun and I am still figuring out which one I like best but I don't have to vow by it either!
A regular writing schedule!- Well,not exactly regular, but I realized it is best to feed my muse often (even if it is just snippets), if I don't want to go into a spiral of everything negative
=.=
Two Resolutions!!
To write more lvhp/tomarry!! gahhh my muse is a nattery thing!!
I thought writing is for myself- but I never thought crowd control is a thing. But!- never to let anyone's words take me down. Any time I feel it so, just look at the wallpaper and reflect on what (or who) actually drives me ~
=.=
One Line!!
Everything about pogf is my favourite! But I will give you -
“Such fancy little tricks.” Harry threw back the words at the man, “The human sacrifice mustn’t have been worth more than a knut.” He mocked, adrenaline tripping over the rage as he glared at the Dark Lord impudently, hands reaching out to touch the heart of the man-
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🎥🎶💕🏳🌈💎 for hunters perhaps? >:3c
Oh golly! Ok fndkfnfn let me do this then. This may be difficult-
🎥: Do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?
This is hard bc I have a lot of scenes I like and good scenes keep happening dhdjfn.
There are a lot of stand-outs so far. Among them is definitely like, the confrontation in the car between Blake and Sakio, and the recent social link scene with Blake and Lena on the boat.
Scenes that DON’T involve my own character that I adore include. The scene with Sakio and Camellia at the graveyard. The scene with with Lena and Twitch outside the store. The Sammy’s scene where they read Tango’s letter. Also the scene with Sammy and Masumi bc it was just extremely funny.
🎶: If your hyperfixation has songs / an OST, what is your favorite song from it?
Hm. Well time once again to advertise my Blake playlist, which I’m constantly putting a lot of work and thought into tbh dhjddb, I’ve deleted a fair number of songs from it when I feel they don’t fit, and I’m constantly messing with the order of the songs in relation to Blake’s prospective characters arc, and adding more as I find them fndkfnf I’m always on the lookout.
Also, vane is constantly updating the official playlist with some real bangers, and I appreciate that. Amil’s and Twitch’s themes are real good.
💕: Tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!
Everybody has really really good characters, heck. One thing that strikes me is that even with taking the backseat and having to be on autopilot for several sessions, Camellia still has such a strong and distinct personality, to the point where everyone is on the same page abt them, and I think that’s just really amazing dhdjfjf, that’s how strong an impression they make every time they’re around.
Lena is also so good, she’s like… I think abt her frequently. Sometimes I just start giggling when I think abt Lena, bc she is a national treasure, and I hope she knows I care abt her. She’s great in this way that she’s both very funny/cute and also has a lot of depth and nuance to her arc, and I’m so excited for more.
In the same vein, Sammy. No one character has made me go from giggling to sobbing as fast as this green goat. One moment Sammy is making their cat do a little greeting and I’m rolling on the floor from the cuteness, and then the next second they’re crying and saying they don’t want to be left behind, and then I am also crying. How do they do it. The absolute range.
I also really appreciate Ilse like, particularly in contrast to Blake sometimes, in that Ilse is very smart in a way that’s quiet, self-conscious and careful, while Blake is at times recklessly arrogant, and those two bounce off each other well. Ilse feels mature at times but every time they quietly like, try to be the bigger person, or to not make a problem of themselves, I wanna give them a hug and be like “u deserve to be recognized and acknowledged and u deserve better” dhdjdndjdn. When u have big personalities like Sakio and Lena and Blake in the party there’s something compelling abt Ilse being with them and not asserting themselves as they try to do their best, if that makes sense, and I want them to know I see and appreciate them.
Sakio is also so good and I’ve talked abt this to vane plenty before but holy shit. There’s so much obvious care and love and effort and skill that went into writing a character who is both wrong in many ways, and who many player characters antagonize for good reason, and yet still so incredibly sympathetic, so likable and so compelling. The fact that both Blake and Lena have this relationship with Sakio where they don’t like or trust her, necessarily, but also can’t deal with her not being there, is so fucking good, it creates such powerful conflict in the smallest of ways. Sakio is great bc I love her and I understand her and I appreciate her, but I also wanna yell at her and think she is absolutely horribly wrong about incredibly crucial things and u can FEEL that turmoil in her as well, with her knowing on some level that her actions are going to cause harm, and she’s just waiting and hoping to take the fall, thinking, maybe foolishly, that she can, and that doing so will save everyone else.
I also fucking love so many minor characters we haven’t seen much of so far. I absolutely love Bee and I’ve told vane abt this but she’s just a total icon. Theo is also great, he is the only valid he/him in the entire campaign djdkfj. I love Twitch as well and I’m very excited for some of the interesting stuff in Twitch’s arc that has been hinted at coming to fruition later on, that’s very exciting. I’m also very excited to learn more abt Amil’s whole deal, I appreciate them a lot and I feel bad every time I have to make Blake come pester them fndkfnf. Oh also Prim, how did I forget Prim… what’s going on with her, I have no idea, but she’s a mean lady and my love for mean ladies is well-documented. Also her look is iconic. Also also Puck, the fact that he’s a child and I didn’t know it for several months shocked me to my core but it has made his brand of Shakespearean mischief that much more endearing, and now I seek only to give him snacks and let him sit in his funny garbage throne. I forgot abt Puck earlier so I’ll say he is the second valid he/him in the campaign but frankly I think Puck should take some neopronouns for a spin, he deserves it.
🏳️🌈: Do you have any headcanons (LGBT, race, neuro, etc.) that are important to you?
(*throws neurological disorders at Blake*) jdkdnfkf no but jokes aside. I love that this party is like, 5 player characters, 4 of whom use they/them. Just. The raw power of a persona series written by LGBT+ ppl…
I can’t speak on other ppl’s characters too much but as for Blake, they’re a closeted transfem and also too much of a disaster for a coherent sexuality but probably bi. Autistic, and an abuse survivor who experiences paranoid delusions and self-destructive tendencies. Probably more, but specifics are messy, they’re a fucking mess, what’s going on with them, they don’t even know.
Masumi is a binary trans lesbian, also an abuse survivor and manages quite a bit of paranoia of her own, dealing with mood swings and occasional delusions of grandeur, most of it she keeps internally managed which isn’t great for her mental health.
💎: Are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?
Blake’s original characterization was thought up prior to the campaign and was very different from their finished characterization. They lived on a farm with their parents and were pretty quiet and passive before being arrested for a murder they didn’t commit (this part is the same) and their personality was way more quiet, reserved and passive, with the whole celebrity aspect completely absent. They were still going to be the sort of clever leader type character but leaned far more into the background. Their design was also different, with their hair in a low ponytail rather than high and scars on their face from scrapes and accidents working on the farm.
I realized that, even though this character was more of an original idea than Masumi (who I was playing in another campaign at the time and who was characterized somewhat differently as well) I didn’t find myself excited to write them, couldn’t get invested in them in the same way, and as I kept workshopping them I decided to be more self-indulgent and lean more into shamelessly making them an Akechi expy in more ways.
And what resulted from that, ironically, is what I feel is a better character in the end. Blake feels more dynamic, lively and interesting now than the old iteration I first thought up, back when I was intent on making them My Own Creation with their own arc. At this point I’m comfortable saying that Blake, for all their similarities to Akechi, has evolved over the course of the campaign into a more interesting character, into someone I recognize as distinctly different and who stands out. They feel unique to me, and feel like my own character. And I think that only could’ve happened through playing them in a TTRPG like this, in developing them along with others, and having to adapt, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about developing characters with other people. The Blake I’ve ended up with is one I’m really happy with, who I feel is more interesting and dynamic to me than if I had just tried to force something unique just to not feel cringe about making an expy. And maybe I need to learn that lesson before I go through the same thing with Zee fjdkfnf.
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Musicality
Ok I LOVE this story!! I made a whole story based off a lil convo @jemtoka and I had, and I made oc’s based off each of us and went to town. It was very fun to write, and I got to combine my music knowledge with my writing skills.
Enjoy!
When Benji had first set out to find the ghost of Beethoven, he wasn’t actually sure that he’d be able to do it. His brother had once called him “all bite and no bark”, a reference to the fact that out of the four brothers, Benji had been the only one to not outgrow his infant habit of biting things- or people- when stressed. But in this situation, he definitely felt like he’d bitten off more than he could chew.
He absentmindedly chewed on his chewing necklace as he drafted a grant proposal with his friend, Mujika. Muji was drawing in a notebook, something for his art classes, though he looked up when prompted to review the words that had appeared on Benji’s screen. Muji had done his fair share of research, and though he did want to help with the writing of the research paper, it had been agreed that Benji was the more… academic writer. The two of them had met through social media a couple of years ago, and once they’d started direct messaging, had become close friends quickly through a mesh of shared interests, similar humor, and a half-baked scheme to take over the world.
Which led them here, to a table in the back of a 24-hour McDonalds, Benji chewing the head off a stiff chewable bat pendant and Muji using his nocturnal tendencies to do things like “make sure his friend drank water and didn’t forget that he was a person.”
“Fo you fink ish bit avou duh Immoruhl Bewuved ith done? Ish kinda duh hoh vashis of arr puhposal so…” Benji trailed off, jaw absentmindedly moving over the poor bat, whose head was holding on by sheer force of will to the rest of its body.
“What?” Muji asked. He did not speak bat-in-mouth.
Benji pulled the pendant out of his mouth with an audible pop. “Y’think this bit about the Immortal Beloved is finished? It’s like, the whole basis of our proposal n shit.”
He turned the laptop towards Muji, who closed his notebook, set it to the side, and pulled the laptop in front of him. He read it quietly, and Benji began to tap out the beat to the song playing on low volume in his earbuds. He began to hum, too, murmuring lyrics under his breath as he stared off into the distance.
“I think it looks good.” Muji finally replied, turning the laptop back toward Benji and grabbing his notebook again. “I can’t think of anything else we could add to that section.”
Benji gave a little half shrug. “I guess you’re right.”
The two of them once again worked in solitude, only broken by Benji ordering fries at about 1 AM. At 3, they decided to call it quits, though Benji seemed more wired than ever and voiced some apprehension about “going to sleep when there’s so much work to be done, Muji!” Muji chastised him slightly and promised that they could come back the next day- or rather, later that day- to finish up. There were only slight revisions to be done, then it could be sent off to the Music Master Scholars, an organization dedicated to the care and keeping of the ghosts widely considered Music Masters, which included household names like Mozart and Beethoven, but also lesser-known composers like Joseph Bologne and Francesca Caccini.
Ghosts were, of course, a commonplace occurrence, though one could theoretically live their life without interacting with one. That was rare, though; ghosts had a tendency to wander, though they could only appear in places that held significance to them in life and graveyards, but even living in a house increased the average person’s chances of encountering a ghost exponentially.
But these ghosts were special, because of the knowledge they possessed and the lives they’d lead. The Music Master Scholars were the only people in the world who both knew and had access to the location of every ghost, and to join their ranks, one had to find the location of one of the ‘hidden’ Music Masters- of which Beethoven was the most hidden. Their non-administrative members were unknown, but said to be most, if not all, of the foremost music scholars in the world. How could they not be, with the Masters themselves guiding their research?
Benji and Muji really, really wanted to be Music Master Scholars.
When he was 10, Benji had been given some sort of “young musician” scholarship to visit Europe for a month. He was a double bassist, a dying breed in the modern age, and the fact that he had progressed from monotonic exercises to Baroque sinfonias in the span of four months had impressed his teachers.
His parents had gone along, too, mostly because they knew their child, and Benji did have a propensity to get into trouble. Devil’s luck, his mother had tsked, and that had been that.
He’d managed to escape the group in the middle of a museum, though he didn’t wander far. He just wanted to look at everything without feeling like people were constantly breathing down his neck.
Well. HE didn’t consider “the park near the museum” to be far. His parents did, though, he found out later.
At the park, he found a man. Well, not a man. A ghost. The ghost was staring wistfully at the museum in the distance, and started when he noticed a small child staring at him.
“Hi! Who are you?” Benji asked, clutching the stuffed animal his parents had gotten him at another museum the day before.
The ghost cleared his throat. “I’m uh…” He started in a raspy voice before pausing and clearing his throat again. “I’m,” He sighed. “I’m Johannes Brahms.”
“Yo-hahn Brahmzzzz.” Benji repeated, drawing out the last “s” sound. “Oh! You did music, right?”
Brahms smiled slightly, and nodded.
The two of them talked for a while before Benji’s parents arrived, harried and frustrated. They apologized profusely to the ghost, who insisted it hadn’t been a problem.
The whole experience left Benji starry-eyed, and with the help of a friend he’d made in Germany, he would call and converse with Brahms for hours, asking about counterpoint and meaning and technique and just in general picking his mind. The composer took this with grace, and seemed more than happy to answer the young musician’s questions. When he’d told Benji about the Scholars, Benji had immediately decided that he was going to be a Music Master Scholar.
Muji had played violin until he’d dropped out of high school to take care of his mom, and hadn’t resumed it until after him and Benji had been talking for a while. He didn’t know much about composition, but he loved music history, and after getting his GED and enrolling in college, had even majored in it. Plus, he just kinda just thought the whole thing was cool.
They’d been researching for a year and a half, with pointers from Brahms, and tips from a professor Benji’d had two years ago, a Classical scholar named Dr. Chang. Benji had once emailed her and asked, point-blank, if she was a Music Master Scholar, but she’d only sent back a cryptic winky face emoji in response.
The next day, after three more hours of sitting in McDonalds, revising the proposal (most of which was Muji saying “Benji it looks fine!” and Benji responding with “No, no, this comma in paragraph seven just makes it sound better! Ties it all together, don’t you think?”), it was sent off in an email, and Benji resolved not to think about it while Muji resolved to mention it at the most inopportune moments, just to mess with his friend a little.
They were approved a month later, and three months after that day at McDonalds, they were sitting on a plane heading to Austria, Benji mouthing practice phrases in German as Muji slept. They had about a month to traipse all over Europe in search of a ghost very few people had been able to find, and they were excited to start.
The first week was spent in Austria, visiting Beethoven’s own grave (a nonstarter; the ghosts there hadn’t seen Beethoven since he was buried, and none knew where he’d gone), his childhood home and the area surrounding.
Nothing.
The second week was spent in Vienna. There, they visited the ghost of Mozart, who was a fidgety, flighty sort. He was known for being somewhat immaterial, and often took to jumping on top of objects in a manner that caused the people around them to panic for a few seconds before realizing he was too immaterial to do anything more than whisper vaguely about his childhood. He’d tried to pet Muji’s hair and got annoyed when nothing happened, so it wasn’t a particularly long visit.
They tried to visit Haydn, but while the location of Haydn’s ghost was well-known, only Music Master Scholars were allowed to see him, as he claimed the crowds exhausted him, and he wanted to be able to give his full attention to those visiting him. It made sense, since ghosts used massive amounts of energy to communicate and interact with the world around them, and the more energy they expended, the less time they were able to spend on earth. Despite this, the two of them did make an effort, but were summarily barred from entering.
“Next time!” Benji declared confidently as they walked to their next potential Beethoven hot spot.
They visited Brahms, who had resolved to meet them in Vienna upon learning they were coming, and spent a whole day with him, visiting locations which had been important to him and letting his impromptu history lessons wash over them with a look of awed reverence.
Beethoven wasn’t in Vienna, and by the third week the two friends were feeling the threat of rejection hot on their heels. They began keeping odd hours, trying their hardest to figure out their next move.
“Maybe we should reread our proposal? Clearly the Scholars saw something in it, right?” Muji theorized from the bed he’d claimed as his their first night in the hotel.
“Mmmm.” Benji responded from his position on the floor at the foot of his bed, still feeling the after-effects of a well-deserved mental breakdown.
“Come on, Benji!” Muji tried to motivate him. “We can do it! You’re a super cool music spy, remember?”
Benji huffed at the reminder of an old, inane conversation between the two. “I don’t know, Muji. I think it’s kinda pointless.”
“Come on, Benji!” Muji tried again. “This is like, your dream! It’s now or never! Put our mutual brain cell to use so we can find Beethoven!”
Benji sighed and got up. “Fine, fine.” He murmured as he got off the floor, grabbed his copy of the proposal from his bag, laid down on the bed, and stuffed another chewable pendant into his mouth. “Wet’s fee.”
Silence reigned for a few, brief seconds, before Muji suddenly exclaimed, “Hey! We never checked out anything about the Immortal Beloved, right?”
Benji sat up straight on his bed and spit out the pendant. “Holy shit, we never checked out anything about the Immortal Beloved.”
After a quick Google search, two train tickets, a couple of sandwiches, and a dash through the rain, they arrived at the Frankfurt Main Cemetery. There, they asked after the name they’d listed in their proposal as the possible Immortal Beloved, and the ghosts pointed them towards the back of the cemetery.
In a ghost grotto, they found a woman, calmly humming the tune from one of the Diabelli variations, though in their excitement neither Benji nor Muji could name the tune.
“Are you-“ Benji paused and took a couple of deep breaths. “Are you the Immortal Beloved?
The woman stopped humming and smiled at them.
“Ah, that is a moniker I have not heard in some time.” She arose and walked away from them, lifting her skirts elegantly in a manner which conveyed a sense of class. “Come; I think you are the ones I’ve been expecting.”
The two followed after her eagerly and looked confused when they stopped at a mail office in town. There, she reached into a P.O. box, pulled out a silver envelope, and gave it to Benji.
“This is yours.” She murmured. “Please do come to visit; it’s rare that I receive visitors.”
With this, she disappeared.
The two stared at the envelope for a couple of seconds before Benji eagerly opened it, accidentally ripping the envelope in half. He then read it, brow furrowing in confusion.
“What’s it say?” Asked Muji, eagerly, from over his shoulder.
“It says… it’s just numbers? I don’t get it.” Benji gave him the paper, trying to puzzle out what it meant.
Muji frowned, then plugged the numbers into Google.
“It’s a location!” He burst out, excitedly shoving the phone in Benji’s face.
The two of them hurriedly called a taxi, listing the location Muji’s phone had given them. They were dropped off in front of the building, and saw someone standing at the entrance. They showed the person (a Scholar!) their letter, and with a large smile, they were taken inside, their guide walking confidently as Benji and Muji trailed behind them. The interior of the building was long and winding, which left the two feeling as though they’d been deceived by the outward appearance of the building. The building had looked small and unassuming, and this place was built like a maze. They were sure they’d be lost if they tried to head back without a guide.
Near the end of the path they heard the sound of a piano playing, and warm light spilled into the hallway. They eagerly rushed ahead, much to the amusement of the Scholar.
There, facing the wall, conducting half a beat behind the sound coming from the recorder behind him, stood Beethoven.
Benji gasped, and clutched Muji’s shoulder. He pointed ecstatically at the figure in the room. “It’s Beethoven!!!” He stage-whispered.
Muji smiled widely as he nodded back. “Yeah!!”
The two of them turned around when a voice behind them cleared. The Scholar gave them each a thick letter with the recognized seal of the Music Master Scholars on the back, and the two of them stared at it, unsure of what to do.
“Well?” The Scholar prompted, rocking back and forth on their heels. “Aren’t you going to open it?”
Benji ripped into his envelope first, completely abandoning the flap as he tore the side off. His hands shook as he pulled out a letter on creamy white stationary. He skimmed the words and began crying, clutching the letter and envelope to his chest.
Muji was slightly more careful, removing the letter from the envelope via the flap and pulling out the other contents of the envelope. A laminated membership card, a list of locations of other ghosts, and an alphabetized list of other Scholars with contact info and a small bio were also in the envelope. He pulled out each one, looked at it, and put it back in the envelope. He then stopped and held the envelope in his hands, staring at it.
After about ten minutes, the guide worriedly asked Muji, “Is Benji alright? He’s been crying for a while.”
Muji nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah, he cried for like two hours after I finished streaming Crisis Core for him.” At the guide’s look of confusion, he added, “Video game.”
The guide made a small noise of understanding and nodded.
When Benji’s sobs finally faded into sniffles, the three of them began the trek out of the building.
“Sorry this route is so long.” The Scholar apologized. “Oh! Also! I forgot to introduce myself.” They paused and turned, offering their hand. “I’m Soraya Cham! I was the last person to find Beethoven’s ghost. When I heard about you guys, I got excited, really. I was rooting for you!”
The two of them shook her hand and nodded, unsure what else to say.
Soraya continued, then hailed a taxi when they reached the road. They waved goodbye to Benji and Muji as the two of them got in the backseat.
“We did it!” Benji shouted once they were back at their hotel.
#original story#yall get one guess as to which of us is benji n which of us is muji#i hope yall r enjoying these#when the mania ends its all over for these original story posts sry to tell u#ash does shit
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CHAPTER FOUR: Perspective
LittlePip had the bright idea of looting a building she is way too underleveled for. That's not really a Gamer Joke, as FoE really does seem to take a lot of rules and mechanics from the Fallout games. But it's also funny.
Her opponents are the classic brain-bots we know from the games, made more horrifying with the simple detail of sounding like children. "Come on out. We only want to kill you for trespassing!" also reminds me of the turrets in Portal.
This is also where we get our first reference of the zebras as the enemy, via the intercom playing an ancient, automated message. Oh, and the first mention of the Minstry of Technology too!
The Mr. Handy equivalent of a plasma weapon is said to look like a unicorn's horn. That's cool.
While trying to escape on collapsing catwalks we get the first instance of self-levitation! That's a creative use of the canonical ability unicorns in the show possess. I'm not even sure if a unicorn levitaed *another* pony in season 1. But I think they never levitated themselves? This also gave me flashbacks (or rather flashforwards) to all the cool stuff LittlePip can do later with her levitation, I'm excited to get there.
Oh fuck me with Celestia's forehooves!
The first instance of a PipSwear! Now, I love them. They are iconic. But heck, gosh, darn it if they don't sound awkward when said out loud. Which kinda makes them not work as swears, in my opinion. But for me, they are dumb fun and sometimes that's enough. Her remark that she picked these exploitives up from the raiders is a nice touch. That she keeps them up and builds on them is all her, though.
IRONSHOD FIREARMS
How do you like *them* apples?
I didn't get it.
So, I am not a native English speaker. I know this saying, but I was curious where it comes from. *Apparently* that's not really known, but according to this article the phrase was used like this in 1895 already. However, it was also used to refer to anti-tank granades in World War I, for their apple-like appearence. Since granades also look like apples in FoE, I will take the risk and say that I think I do get Ironshod Firearms' slogan.
The anti zebra propaganda found in the factory overmare office is both creative and glossed over. The slogan ("Better Wiped than Striped! Join the Equestrian Forces Today!") is heavily reminicient of the German rhymes of similiar racist nature from the world wars. And the depiction of the zebras as some dark creatures with evil glowing eyes is over the top, but only a reread might reveal this as the neon sign it is, as the zebras have not yet been introduced as the enemy force properly.
In the overmares office Littlepip finds a ton of useful items, from spark batteries , a StealthBuck and gum (which could be the first instance of MintAls, altough not called such, as LittlePip doesn’t know them yet (and if they aren’t, she finds some later in this chapter in an abandoned camp under a bridge), to the one, the only: little macintosh. This revolver will become LittlePips iconic weapon that she keeps until the very end of the story. Presumably made for or at least by Applejack, so this also gives Littlepip a neat little tie to one of the original shows main characters.
Hacking the terminal LittlePip discovers that she could have opened the safe she picked with a bobby pin remotely from there. Intentionally or not, this is a dig at Fallout 3′s design philosophy of giving you several ways to open locks, making only learning one of them enough, while skilled characters are left feeling a bit overqualified.
Leaving Ironshod Firearms, LittlePip admits to having given up on finding Velvet for now and being set on just exploring the world instead. Again, very Fallout 3 in my book.
Past a playground that became a graveyard for little ponies (dark!), she finds a “Sparkle~Cola” vending machine. This becomes LittlePips favorite drink and when I first read it, I was super happy about that for some reason. The book keeps mentioning how she sipps on carroty cola sometimes and every time I remember thinking it was a fun detail. I have no idea why.
Resting on a bench closeby we get a description of this poster:
(Art by Droakir - DeviantArt)
First mention of the Ministry of Morale, first instance of Pinkie Pie and a really fun description of how her graying mane makes it look like a candy cane. Like the poster on the zebras, this is also great, classic propaganda writing. Obviously it is a reference to the episode Green Isn’t Your Color, but while I feel that it is referencing some real life propaganda, I do not know a specific one.
Watcher suddenly is back, helpfully explaining that the MoM is “another well-meaning idea that was so much better on scroll.” What a fitting description of pre-war politics in FoE.
Getting jumped makes LittlePip call back to the slaver, that complained about sprite-bots sneaking up on ponies. If I recall correctly this will be one of the biggest sources of fun in FoE: Callbacks like this, that help paint the world in your mind by connecting the dots for you. Im certain some find this aspect annoying, as they rather enjoy doing that work themselves, but as a casual reader (of a very long story) I always welcomed it.
I will also stop pointing them out from here on, unless they strike me remarkable in other ways.
A quick reminder of the raider armor she is wearing and some foreshadowing how it makes her look like “a nightmare pony”, before Watcher offers that she needs to find her virtue. This will be as important as in the original show, but also almost take LittlePip until the end of the story to really figure it out. Right now, she doesn’t quite believe him and his connection to the sprite-bot drops.
Now we get a different voice from the radio the sprite-bots play, when Watcher is not in control of them.
Similiar to President Eden of the Enclave in Fallout 3. This however, is Red-Eye, altough not named yet, giving a motivational speech about the posibility of rebuilding Equestria. Naturally, this confuses LittlePip even further, having seen no trace of any leaders or reconstruction efforts.
Well, technically she has seen slavers, so, unbeknownst to her, she actually has seen a part of Red-Eyes plan.
But it gives her the idea to look for settlements and actually finds one in the distance. A undamaged looking caravan is moving away from it, all in all a great disovery.
While a fun and memorable scene in itself, what follows is meant to reflect a corner stone of LittlePips character.
As she approaches the settlement she gets mistaken for a raider by her barding and shot at. Remembering the caravan she collects her strength and stands up to her agressor, threatening to kill them if they attack the others. This reveals the misunderstanding -- her attacker thought she was endangering the caravan -- and LittlePip exits the chapter loosing consiousness from her insuries.
Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Egghead -- You will add +2 skill points each time you gain a new experience level.
What a chapter! While it might feel like not much happened, so many pivital and iconic elements were introduced here. Even if a lot weren’t named yet. Like Calamity!
It does feel weird that LittlePip just admits on giving up on Velvet like that, though. On my first read I didn’t mind, because I just enjoyed how similiar the experience felt to playing Fallout 3, which I liked more than any other entry at the time. Now it seems odd, but there are a lot of other things to focus on and enjoy in this and the coming chapters.
#fallout equestria#fallout#mlp#my little pony#littlepip#ironshod firearms#reread#reading#calamity#red-eye#ministry of morale#ministry of technology#applejack#pinkie pie#braeburn
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(NOTE:I am so sorry for last times ask I must've not red your rules clearly) Hey eliaswrites sorry for the last request that I did I have a 2nd request that I was thinking to,so can you do a RID15 scenario where autobot fem human S/O was sleep walking and accidently wandered off to Steeljaw’s base and Divebomb and Airazor herd something outside and they just see S/O just staring at them intensely. Hope your doing good. 👋🏻
(It's alright, you're good!)
Halloween. It was something they didn't have back on Cybertron, but thanks to being with you Airazor and Divebomb got to learn all about the wonderful holiday full of tricks and treats. You took them out doing early trick-or-treating with you, pranked a few people passing by in a graveyard into thinking the three of you were ghosts, and then went home to enjoy a horror movie marathon while you three are your candy.
You started them off with some classics like Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein, then some animated films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Scary Godmother, then went back to full on horror with Halloween, Night of Living Dead, Return of The Living Dead, and Poltergeist.
Time flew as the three of you watched the movies. You could tell they were into it, maybe Divebomb a little more so, as Airazor would often cover his optics and gasp at the really scary parts. Divebomb wasn't as freaked out, and would ask if humans really have that much blood in them, but he still flinched at certain parts. There were often parts in the marathon where the three of you were huddled together.
Soon enough though, bedtime came, and you stretched and yawned. You asked if they wanted to spend the night but they unfortunately had to refuse since Fracture needed them back at the base by morning. So you all said your goodnights and they headed out the door with their bags of candy.
They got spooked on the way back to the base, not that either will admit it, because it was so dark and the clouds were covering the moon just enough where only a small bit of light shown down. The owls and other animals of the night scurrying about didn't help. They ended up running back to Steeljaw's base.
Most of the mechs were either sleeping or out when they got back, so they just tiptoed around to find out where Fracture had fallen asleep. They find him off to himself, as usual, and Divebomb curls up next him around his sack of candy. Airazor lays down beside Divebomb,not wanting to stray too far from his boss either, just in case there are any ghosts or monsters around.
"Hey Divebomb?" Airazor asks in a hushed whisper.
"What?"
"Do you think all those monsters in those movies are real?"
"...What?" Divebomb peeks his helm up.
"I mean… that Frankenstein monster guy, they used science to make him, he could probably exist right?"
Divebomb opens his mouth, then shuts it to think, "... Actually, yeah, he probably does. I don't know what human scientists really do but I'd imagine they might be able to make him."
"What about werewolves?" Airazor asks.
"Steeljaw's kinda like one right?" Divebomb responds.
"Oh, yeah I guess he is! But what about the zombies?"
"Go to sleep, no monsters are getting in here, and if they do the boss will take quick care of them."
"Yeah, I guess so." Airazor says, turning to his side to face the window.
He lets out a shriek, which makes Divebomb jump up and Fracture shoots straight up on the berth.
"What?! What is it?! What's going on?!" Fracture says frantically, bringing his arm daggers out.
Divebomb looks out the window and shrieks too, "Y/n's a zombie!" he shouts, upon seeing you staring into the window, eyes glazed over and a neutral expression on your face.
"What?" Fracture looks out the window to see you and flinches before putting his daggers away, "Oh it's your little fleshy girlfriend." he says, "Wait… what's she doing here in the middle of the night?" he asks looking at the cowering minis.
The two of them are holding onto each other, shouting things about ghouls and zombies and how you're going to eat their brains. He sighs and opens the window, much to their horror, and picks you up and sets you on the floor, "You guys don't have brains," he says, "Look she's just sleepwalking."
And with that, you bump into Fracture's leg, knocking you awake, "Wha- where am I?" you ask, groggy and looking around. You spot Airazor and Divebomb holding each other shaking, "Oh no what's wrong?" you rush over to them, placing your hand on Airazor's back.
"Pfft, nothing!" Divebomb says, letting go and pushing Airazor away, "I wasn't scared!"
"M-me either!" Airazor says, despite his legs shaking.
You look back to Fracture, who just shrugs.
"What are you talking about? And why am I here?" You ask, trying to figure out what's happening.
"We thought you became a zombie!" Airazor says.
"I was worried you'd eat me!" Divebomb says, "I knew Airazor would be ok because zombies eat brains right? He's safe."
"Hey!" Airazor frowns.
"You were sleepwalking," Fracture says, "I don't really know what they're talking about, but it freaked them out when they saw you staring in the window."
"Oh…" You turn back to your boyfriends, "Sorry for scaring you guys," you smile, "I uhh, I kinda sleepwalk sometimes, sorry about that."
They look at each other, then back to you, " You could've told us that before." Divebomb says.
"Yeah!" Airazor pipes in.
"But uh, we're glad you aren't a zombie."
"And since it's late, you can stay the night!" Airazor says excited.
Fracture sighs and goes to pull out an extra berth from the hall, "Yeah they're right it's late, you can crash here," he says, setting up the berth next to the wall, "But no more screaming." He says turning to his minicons.
"Yeah ok boss." Airazor smiles.
You climb up onto the berth and Airazor and Divebomb rush over to jump up on it with you. Fracture goes back to his own, rolling his optics as the two minis snuggle down beside you on either side and cuddle against you as they finally begin to fall asleep. He is thankful for the quiet though.
#maccadam#macaddam#Transformers#Divebomb#Airazor#rid15#Transformers rid15#rid2015#Robots in disguise 2015#rid15 Divebomb#rid15 Airazor#my writing#reader insert#fem reader#Fracture#rid15 Fracture#asks#godankboi#long post
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how do you feel about the new sally face chapter?
Im glad you asked! under a read more for spoilers for chapter 5
Myself and Fox are giving our opinions in this post so it will be very long
There were things i really liked and things i really didnt like
for example, the swapping dimensions and the changing art styles were very neat! i liked some more than others, like the rubber hose style for sal could of been a bit different in my opinion, @shinysnek did an edit/drawing and tweeked the tiniest thing and made the design alot more palatable
and the minigames were… really repetitive and sometimes very confusing ? esp todds door, the plus’s were almost impossible to notice! slightly darker grey against light grey just makes it look like part of the door :/ and the 3d bits were a bit hard to control during the later part of the game
and the writing,, it felt super rushed as if he just wanted to saddle alot of the damage onto native americans??? that completely came out of the blue, like he couldnt come up with some sort of cop out for why the cult is doing what they do
and still with the weird queer baiting with larry? like he made them brothers but is still pushing it, if steve wanted sal’s love interest to be ash why not have moments like ‘that’ with her instead?? it feels very uncomfortable in my opinion especially with him saying he was still,,comfortable with the ship which REALLY rubs me the wrong way
and the ending,,, dont even,, TALK to me about the ending, it honestly made me so upset?? like, and the epilogue to go with it,,, like okay cool the worlds still fucked over and todds still corrupt and larrys just gone??? for no real reason???????? hes just gone :| okay
gnome larry was funny tho, didnt really explain why Larry got super old while megan stayed a 7 year old, i suppose you can explain it with like when ghosts arent bound to a place they can wither and age? i dunno whatever chapter 5 sucked and it felt like steve just didnt want to do it anymore
—
my turn! alright im going to be typing my opinion from a fellow writer and programmer’s POV.
the beginning of the game kinda drops you in which was a little surprising, considering the other chapters were very rich with exposition which is one of the things i loved about SF.
It had this way of bringing you in even though you didnt know what the heck was going on. It made you want to learn more and it felt like you were THERE with sal.
But this opening with just… ash tossed in fell a little… flat. yeah… graveyard… lets toss in some epitaphs as a reminder of who died, ok… cool.
next lets talk a little about the general story. im not going to lie, this felt like a TOTALLY different game to me and I played them all in succession again to remind myself of the other chapters.
It was so… plain. It didnt have the eerie-ness of the bologna incident, it didnt have the intriguing mystery of the first chapter where it started you off in the hospital as a little boy with your face hidden, it didnt have that heart wrenching storyline of the 4th chapter.
it was just…. “i need to end this game quick”.
there was just a unique feeling to the other chapters, something that made you feel gritty and floaty, like you were a dirty teenager hunting for ghosts.
Saddling the natives on the unexplained reason as well… BIG YIKES, steve. the silent hill movies pulled this crap too, and we can all see how flat that fell in comparison to the actual silent hill 3 game.
There are so so many things you could do instead of that tired (and lets face it) racist stereotype.
I thought it was going to have a deeper meaning, like… people have had cults for decades that didnt have to do with the natives. hell, he could have even kept with the weird alien theme he was going for. calling an ancient alien creature? that would be pretty badass.
The ending… fell disappointingly flat. ok… everyones dead? so you tortured sal and his pals for literally no reason? granted i didnt press the c4 button so im not sure how that path goes, but i doubt its any more satisfying.
not to mention the constant queerbaiting that, at this point, makes me so uncomfortable.
yes we get it, steve. you think adopted brothers can fuck, and yeah, theres nothing TECHNICALLY wrong with it (and im using technically by definition, its still wrong in my eyes), but come on. can any of you tell me that wouldnt make you intensely uncomfortable? Its not ok what he did imo and i know its his characters, but steve? either dont make them brothers or stop fucking pushing their romantic interactions.
oh and lets talk about the only other canonly gay couple with any screen time! he killed the black one.
yep… just… let that sink in for a second. did he need to? absolutely not. at least not in such a pointless way.
didnt even give neil any character development tbh, just… token black gay man that needed to be there to be the motivator to search for todd. ok thanks, steve.
and travis (another not white character. no do not argue that hes “blonde”, sal has fucking blue hair and i WILL color pick travis if i have to). he was the other gay character who… yep, lemme look at my notes… died.
he didnt even get much of a redemption tbh, yeah he was secretly helping them, but… wow. toss him in the hole! we dont want to write gays!!! (unless we’re taunting people to get them to play under the guise of “lgbt representation”)
also larrys a gnome and is just… gone forever. just say you hate larry, steve. you didnt have to do him so dirty man.
now then, lets talk about the gameplay.
i was playing with an xbox controller so im going to be from that POV.
the controls were… ok for the most part. the 3d part was a bit hard to see and i got stuck trying to walk past the trees a lot.
to be honest, the 3d is my only complaint with controls. the mini game later on where youre 3d and shooting tentacles was very hard to control, half the time it wouldnt move fast enough and the other half it would zip past the diagonals. i DID beat it, but i am a very good gamer. to other people who might not play games constantly, might have a bit more trouble and get frustrated.
the puzzles were bland and repetitive. im a horror puzzle game writer and i would NEVER do something this blasphemous in a horror style game. it removes you from the game to think “wow…. THIS puzzle AGAIN?”. it makes you feel like its insulting your intelligence, like “oh here you go you fucking baby, move the shape to match the other shape”
and one of the only other puzzles was that fucking door number puzzle. he made the pluses almost impossible to see for starts, and i KNOW other people had trouble with this. Wanna know how to fix this? make the pluses easier to see and make it so the input pad can only except the number of numbers that the code it. dont make me sit there like a jackass, typing in every conceivable way to order the numbers given.
all in all though, the gameplay was plain, the storyline was bland, the puzzles were mediocre and the only reason to play the chapter is to close up the story and to find out what happened to sal and his mom (which tbh was the only good part because i was actually surprised and excited that it was that that injured him)
i hope in steves next projects he actually figures out how to write an ending and doesnt rush it (and please keep in mind this was rushed even though he had multiple people helping him)
-fox
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Child Spirit claps back!
OK! SOOOO. A little back story first. I left my first husband 10 years ago. I left EVERYTHING with him except my daughter. I use to write novels (never published), songs, poems, draw all sorts of artwork, and my clothes were my life (I was particular about my fashion choices). I left everything: books, original artworks, basically my soul and identity. When I left I did not write or do any art ever again. I had to focus on being a first time mother, go to work full time, and school full time. I had a new identity that left no time or room for who I was from that day forward.
My Hubs (2nd husband) produces Drum and Bass music and has since he was a teen. I support and help him as much as I can doing whatever I can (singing, speaking, picking out sounds, synths, etc; telling him to remove certain things that don’t work well, so on so forth). He has always taken music seriously and wanted to go much further than he has with it in the past but has held himself back due to fears of being in public eyes and what the media could do to him. Understandable.
We decided recently to go for it-to take this to the next level if we could. In this process, Hubs decides I need to unpack that 10 years of exiling my talents. He bought me a notebook and now hounds me to speak to him so he can write or have me write my own songs and poems again. I say hounds but really he is trying to inspire me and find me a muse, there is no true negative connotation on it. I am just naturally pessimistic. Hubs is most definitely an optimist and before anyone asks, yes, sometimes it makes me sick (figuratively). In reality we balance each other extremely well. I never have had a more healthy relationship with anyone other than my mother in my life with the exception being Hubs. He is my everything, next to our kids.
So that brings us to today. We, Hubs and I, are in the kitchen. I am cooking ground beef to make tacos on the stove. We were talking about how I don’t like my voice on recording but I do like it raw and natural and how I don’t understand why I feel I sound different on recording versus not recording. I then decide we need to discuss what we want to change and not to change if we happen to go next level with this music endeavor. As I leave the stove and go into the fridge (literally the fridge is next to the stove so it is only one step away) to make a glass of soda, I ask, “If we do go next level what do we want to stay the same and what do we want to have change?”
I turn around with the soda bottle in hand to go to the counter where my glass is waiting and Hubs is standing. I see a child standing next to him that isn’t mine with sandy brown or sandy blonde hair down to its cheeks. I’m not entirely sure which would better describe the kids hair. I assume it’s a non-binary child right off the bat. This child scares the shit out of me. It was not there prior to this moment. I never have seen this child before in my life and it is standing next to Hubs. I let out a short loud scream upon seeing this child and at this exact moment the child swings it’s hand and hits my Hubs glass of soda out of his own hands. The glass went up then hit the floor. It did not shatter, break, or crack. It was in one piece. Soda was on my upper and lower cabinets, on the floor and the side of the stove. The child was gone. Vanished.
“What was that?” Hubs looked at me.
“I don’t know why i screamed like that.” I tried to rationalize with myself, “It was a child.”
I pour myself a glass of soda and go back to cooking. Hubs and I discuss what just happened and didn’t continue the previous conversation we were trying to have about our possible future. We agree to invite the ghost upstairs to have a conversation via tarot after we eat dinner. Tacos took maybe another 3 minutes to cook and construct. We ate at the stove and the kids ate at the dining table. So a whole ten minutes maybe passed before we ran upstairs and grabbed my Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck, pendulum, and pendulum board.
I’m sitting on the bed and my back is killing me. This spirit is sucking my energy to stay present so I can receive it’s message. I start shuffling and right out of the gate cards are spilling.
The first five:
1. XIX The Sun:
Directly from the guidebook:
“When cloudy skies pass, the sun comes out, shining warmth and happiness on everyone’s lives. The excitement, renewed energy, and joy Jack experiences when he discovers Christmas Town perfectly embody the energy of the Sun tarot card.
Upright: If you’ve been sad or troubled lately, the Sun is a sign you’re about to feel a very positive shift in your life. Use this rejuvenating energy to reconnect with good friends and enjoy yourself. There’s so much enthusiasm in this tarot card. It signifies a powerful time for inspired brainstorming.”
Interpretation: I believe this represents both the child I seen and the situation. The child had no ill or negative feeling. It was a joyful and happy child. As for the situation, the Sun is calling me out on how I’m very negative and down on myself and that positive things are happening in my life. I need to start removing myself from being pessimistic and join ‘Team Optimistic’ by following through and doing as my Hubs has been pushing me to do.
2. XVIII The Moon (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Moonlight illuminates Jack in the graveyard as he reflects on his feelings. The moon represents a great lament, the subconscious, and intuition.”
“Reversed: In order to move forward, you need to be honest about your feelings, with yourself and others. Expressing yourself will life a weight off your chest and get you out of a melancholy headspace. The Sun is about to come out, and a new day will bring new possibilities.”
Interpretation: I was in the process of expressing my feelings on my voice right before the glass was thrown. I was being negative and hurtful to myself. The child did not like it and that is why they hit the glass to gain attention and to give me this message thus “the sun is about to come out”. I will be enlightened by the other side as to their feelings rather than focus on my own.
3. X of Needles:
Directly from the guidebook:
“Upright: X of Needles indicates something is coming to a painful ending. Whether this refers to a friendship, relationship, project, or job, you may be left with heavy emotions. Give yourself time to grieve, but trust that it’s for the best. Fresh beginnings are ahead!”
Interpretation: The 10 years I am unpacking is the means to an end. The hurt will end. I’ve hurt myself enough. My talents no longer need to be buried and not used. They are valid and need to be expressed. They will bleed and feel rushed because the flood gates are now open.
4. Queen of Needles:
Directly from the guidebook:
“Upright: The Queen of Needles is intelligent, intellectual, and sensible. She takes time to make up her own mind and isn’t easily swayed by trends, fads, or popular opinion. Fair and practical, the Queen of Needles shouldn’t be underestimated. This card is a call to remember how strong you really are.”
Interpretation: The child is
5. III of Needles (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Reversed: III of Needles reversed symbolizes coming to terms with the past It’s time to pluck the needles out of your heart, and let it heal. Nurse your wounds and go forward.”
Interpretation: I need to let myself move forward and not punish myself. I need to allow my gifts to thrive and be of use in my life.
I decided to use the Pendulum board a little bit to confirm everything I had seen. I asked the spirit if I was correct with the sandy brown-blonde hair color. The pendulum swung ‘yes’. I continued, “Definitely not a red head then.” The crystal swung ‘no.’ “Is there more you want to tell me?” ‘Yes.’ I picked up the cards and started shuffling again. Five more cards popped out.
6. IX The Hermit:
Directly from the guidebook:
“The Hermit is a thoughtful, introverted figure who likes to spend his time ruminating alone--like the Creature Under the Stairs.
Upright: Now’s the time to get inspired by example and withdraw for some quiet alone time. The Hermit calls for reflection, so do a bit of soul-searching. Consider your current position, goals, and dreams. Remember your past, and learn from it so you can bring those lessons with you into a successful future.”
Interpretation: The child wants me to really look deep into myself and accept who I am.
7. III The Empress (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“The Empress is a maternal, nurturing figure who enjoys self-indulgence and life’s creature comforts. Our Empress is the Corpse Mom, who is often seen leading her child on a leash.”
“Reversed: Are you being too hard on yourself? You may have been feeling self-critical lately, but beating yourself up about perceived failures and flaws won’t help. Be patient, and give yourself room to make mistakes--they’re learning opportunities.”
Interpretation: I couldn’t have interpreted this card any other way than as they described. I needed to stop bullying myself. The child seemed very adamant with this message.
8. IX of Needles (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Reversed: Has your confidence been dealt a blow recently? If you’re feeling low, you may be your own biggest bully. Start focusing on your positive qualities instead of fixating on your perceived negative ones. A shift in perspective is what’s needed to get you out of despair.”
Interpretation: Again, I couldn’t have interpreted this card any differently. I need to get my head out of my ass.
9. VI of Needles:
Directly from the guidebook:
“VI of Needles usually indicates you’ve been through a difficult time. Have you recently been in conflict with someone or experienced an unexpected setback? It’s time to pick up the pieces and get on track again.”
Interpretation: I need to make peace with myself, pick up the pieces I left behind and put them where they belong in my life-not outside of it.
10. Queen of Candles (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Reversed: The reversed Queen of Candles lacks self-confidence. Have you been giving too much attention to the opinions of others? Don’t stifle your ideas and lose your voice. Make time for a bit of soul-searching, and express yourself. Don’t worry what others may think. You have so much to offer!”
Interpretation: Another hard one! All jokes aside, this child couldn’t have been more direct. I need to keep my opinion on myself out of the picture. I need to use my voice-literally. I need to see the value in me and gain confidence.
I then started telling the spirit I really understood the first time around about their message. Hubs is half laughing at me that I got called out by a child ghost. I continue to state out loud that I understand I need to be nicer to myself and use my talents with the focus of the future in mind. I also state that my back is really starting to kill me and that i would like it to leave if it had nothing more to say. I start shuffling and what do you know... Five more cards...
11. XIIII Death (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Death is often a feared tarot card, but that’s just because its misunderstood. It’s a card of transformation and transition-beginnings and endings. Like the creaky, old gates in Halloween Town’s cemetery, the Death tarot card is a spooky symbol of change and transformation.”
“Reversed: Are you putting off a life-changing decision? Resisting change is impossible and will only cause harm in the long run. Letting go of the familiar can be tough, but trust that accepting transition will make way for positive, fresh beginnings.”
Interpretation: Clearly a change is coming. Whether it be my attitude about myself or how I manage my mental health? Only time will tell.
12. IV of Needles (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Reversed: Here, the restful energy of the IV of Needles card becomes static. Are you feeling stuck? Have you reached a plateau? It’s important to shake yourself out of your routine. When you take a different perspective, you’ll see you have all kinds of opportunities around you.”
Interpretation: I need to look outside of the box when I think about myself.
13. XIV Temperance (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Like pouring magical potions into a cauldron, Temperance represents the act of combining different elements together in perfect harmony.”
“Reversed: If life is feeling hectic, it’s time to bring things back into balance. Pay attention to areas of your life that may be a little neglected. The recipe for success requires a pinch of self-reflection and a dash of Temperance. stir thoroughly, and enjoy.”
Interpretation: I need to balance my negativity with positivity.
14. IV of Candles:
Directly from the guidebook:
“IV of Candles represents celebration. People are recognizing your accomplishments! You’re feeling stable, secure, and comfortable. Be proud of yourself and enjoy the attention, but remember there is still work to be done when the party’s over.”
Interpretation: Although, at our current status as a family, we are successful and doing decent for ourselves but, individually, we can always work and build our characters.
15. III of Presents (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Reversed: Reversed, III of Presents represents an imbalance within a professional or financial collaboration. If you’re working with others on a project, make sure everyone’s doing their part. Disaster strikes when things become inequitable. Prioritizing teamwork will get you where you want to go.”
Interpretation: I need to be more open about my thoughts, opinions, hopes, fears, etc towards Hubs on this new adventure.
With this I felt a lot of my back pain let up. I started to slip the cards back into the deck and shuffle them again just to give them an after reading cleanse. Hubs randomly states he was thinking about splurging on a cyber whip rave toy and then another two cards popped out.
16. XX Judgement:
Directly from guidebook:
“We all have pivotal decisions to make in our lives. Will yours land you on the naughty list or the nice list?
Upright: Now isn’t the time to be hasty and impulsive. Consider your actions and choices carefully, and take time to think things through. Remember that all actions have reactions. Be sensible, and stay true to your conscience.”
Interpretation: The Childs leaving statement is to be mindful as well as ‘you do you’. Apparently, Party time is not on its list of things to do. I may have taken this a little condescendingly. This ghost doesn’t like to have fun.
17. IV of Presents (Reversed):
Directly from the guidebook:
“Reversed: Is your relationship with money healthy? Is it getting you where you want to go? If not, it may be time to look over your budget and reevaluate your priorities. Make sure you’re not spending frivolously if your cash flow can’t support it right now.”
Interpretation: The spirit child was telling us to maybe not go out and buy a light up whip to dance with. No parties for you! Well... In our house, raves will persevere! GLOW STICKS OUT! RAVE ON!
#witchy#witch things#witchcraft#witch#witchblr#ghost#ghoststories#ghost stories#paranormal#experience#ghost experience#spirit#spirit experience#spirit communication#spirit guides#tarot#reading#tarot reading#divination#pendulum#pendulum board#divine#spiritual communication#i see dead people#nightmare before christmas#tarot deck#clap back
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I finished Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Long story short, I loved it!! So much!! And there’s alot I wanna rant about so here we are. A review of sorts?? Major spoilers ahead!
And if y’all think you’re immune to spoilers because you played the original FF7, YOU ARE NOT. Lots of new stuff here....just warning y’all.
Although! I did find this great looking walkthrough playlist if anyone’s interested and can’t play the thing themselves? Idk how complete it is with the details, but from a glance it looks nice!
- FIRST OF ALL the music in it all is amazing!!! From the menu song all throughout, I got Emotional. All the rehashings of Aerith’s theme?? Tifa’s theme?? The FF7 main theme here are there?? AMAZING!!!! I need to find a tracklist or something there are so many versions of the songs specific to the scenes they played in and I die??? Man it is Good.
- On the music front, I really enjoyed the Jukebox feature! So they could add in old classic songs that story-wise couldn’t appear yet...good nostalgia there.
- Lil disclaimer, I played the original FF7 fairly recently, on Steam. HOWEVER. I played Crisis Core years ago, and watched Advent Children, etc. And Final Fantasy music has been a staple homework playlist for me for ages now.... So yes I’m new to the whole FF7 original story. But not new in how most people are...it’s a weird situation lol. Like I knew the general FF7 story for awhile but just recently filled the details....
- The gameplay is awesome!! I wasn’t great at it, but...tbh it felt like mechanics combo of the original FF7, FF15, annnnd Kingdom Hearts :D Also appreciated it PAUSED when you picked out commands lol. Loved upgrading weapons. Loved working with materia. I wish there were like...ways to save a materia set so you could easily switch over when your characters were switched out though X’’’’D
- Biggs is Aro/Ace
- Cloud is VERY Aro/Ace
- Tifa might be Ace
- I decided long ago (in my Crisis Core phase) that Sephiroth is Aro/Ace. There’s nothing to “prove it” in this game but I’m holding to it. I have claimed these characters askjdhuiwdhguerhgr
- Side note, slightly related, but I love how the relationships shone in this remake?? Lots of casual, comfortable touch with Tifa and Cloud (in which Cloud seems in general pretty touch averse due likely to Trauma) in a “we’ve known each other our whole lives” way and gosh I love them. Aerith with Cloud is adorable. Barret!!! Was characterized SO WELL here, and I love him way more than I ever did!! Barret and Tifa interactions as well were so heartfelt and wonderful aaaaaa how good
- Like...Barret haaaates Cloud in the beginning. But somewhere along the way he adopts Cloud instead and ain’t that fantastic?? He just can’t contain how much he cares about others and especially his daughter and goSH I love him.
- Aerith!! I love her!! She gave such a vibe that she knows more than she says, but is still so cute and sweet and sassy I LOVE!!!! Also that scene in the train graveyard with baby Aerith ;;~;;
- Also
Cloud: You need any help??
Aerith, climbing a ladder: I’m fine. You don’t need to treat me like a princess or anything~~~
*ladder breaks*
Aerith, completely serious: s h * t.
I LAUGH
- Cloud was actually really cute with kids!!!!!
- I think I saw a post where they talked about how much more consistent characterizations were here?? I have to agree. I feel some stuff was lost in translation while playing FF7 original, and it felt alot more put together, character-wise, here. I feel like some of that was learned from FF15 and its success with character relationships?? It was Good.
_ I rambled about this before, but Wall Market was every bit as embarrassing as you would think. *covers face*
- Also I thought it was interesting how they handled who was in your party when! A little annoying sometimes though, switching materia around!!! DX I also really wanted to actually PLAY Red XIII/Nanaki....but sure make him an NPC, whatever. (I am grateful he healed me often.)
- *me when Nanaki shows up* AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! THERE HE IS!!!!!!! (sidenote, in the original, I didn’t wanna call him by his experiment name. He’s the only character I changed the name of. The name I picked? Ignis. :”D )
- The motorcycle segments were ANNOYING AS HECK, especially that last one in escaping the Shinra building DX The game forced your camera to focus on the boss and that made the controls VERY ANNOYING. Cool to watch tho.
- I actually almost completed the game boss fight chain early last night!! But RIGHT when I got to Sephiroth, the family demanded I get off the TV for their use D: all that progress....I had to redo ALOT. DX
- STILL the fights were VERY cool! Reminded me of KHII end alot actually, jumping around on broken floating buildings and whatnot?? Also the creature looked like a HUGE DARKSIDE heartless lol
- There’s actually alot in this remake that gives alot of a KH feel to me?? Nomura I see you....
- *screeching the One Winged Angel theme still not knowing the words*
- I LOVED how they showed scenes of the future in the end?? Probably ripped from Advent Children, but?? The characters actually seeing that?? Going “this CAN’T be our future!!” Yo. Also it’s implied it might not HAPPEN now going against destiny and all. I know alot of people are pissed but I am EXCITED. I’m all for a fix-it fic game thank YOU.
- Speaking of fix-it: ZACK. ZAAAAAACK!!!!!! It’s implied he’s alive in one reality so WHERE IS HE??????? I’m so curious about this new story. I’m gonna eat up theories. I want!! To see!! My baby boy!!!!!! to be Fair (haha) I spoiled myself knowing he was in the game but I didn’t know WHEN!!!
- This is terrible, but I love how much they expressed how NOT OK Cloud is. His mental state is awful, but boi won’t talk about it.
- Like I know it’s in the original, but it comes up ALOT more in the remake, and the flashbacks/brain short out moments are more obvious in HD for sure. Plus Cloud’s eyes seem more green there, which is a great touch!! Also the incredible FORESHADOWING it brought. Love it. Please someone help this idiot with his headaches....
- I did get annoyed with the whole scene in Hojo’s lab. Cloud’s walking like a zombie toward where Jenova is, saying CONCERNING things, and NO ONE reaches out until he outright collapses? We all just gonna stand back and watch?? Sure ok.
- Hojo is absolutely disgusting and horrifying and exactly how I imagined him, creators did great job.
- Also why does no one use curaga in these character death scenes???? Potion? Anything????Hello??????
- I was so relieved Wedge (and one of his 3 cats) got to live, and then devastated when they chucked him out a window last minute ;;A;; still. I didn’t see a body. Maybe he’s ok.....*sobs*
- I WAS NOT EXPECTING BIGGS TO BE SEEN IN RECOVERY THO YEEEEESSSSS (I love ANY sign that they DID manage to change the future a little...I thought he was dead!!) Fun fact! The one part I legitimately started crying was when Biggs “died”! Hhhhhhhhhh
- Those dang dementors huh? X’’’D Whispers of fate...there to make sure the story goes according to the original game basically. Does that make the whispers the purist fans of FF7? ...please don’t kill me for that comment sidfiushguigerha
- I just wanna say making a game ABOUT making a remake (that is different from the original) and the struggles in that is VERY meta and so clever and delightful and I LOVE IT. I really wanna see what happens next....
All in all I spent 52 hours on this game. WAY more than I expected for only covering Midgar. And I ENJOYED it!! Some parts felt like the story was being dragged/padded, but most of the time I didn’t care. Also there’s even more to do?? Apparently I missed some scenes....I don’t have time for now, but maybe someday. Or maybe I’ll just look them up ;;7;;
It’s a good game y’all!!
#breezy babbles#breezy plays ffVII#ff7 remake spoilers#ffVIIr#ff7remake#final fantasy#ff#SPOILERS#but also a helpful link for those that can't get the game!#seems like a good video series of the playthrough#excuse me while I use tumblr as a journal and rant my thoughts#again#and claim characters to my ace headcanons lol#this is a good game and I'd highly recommend thank yoU#so many ideas to draw so little time
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Favorite Albums and Music of 2020
Since we’re nearing the end of the year, I thought it would be good to reflect on my end of the years goals and also the things I took pleasure in this year seeing as crazy and emotional as this year has been. So over the next few days I plan to share how my goals went, what I’m proud of and how to continue, and what I enjoyed in this year of 2020. Beginning with my favorite music from this year.
Here’s my top albums:
1. Superbloom by Misterwives
Favorite Songs: superbloom, running in place, muse, 3 small words, coming up for air, decide to be happy, the end, whywhywhy, and it’s my turn
This album was such a lifesaver for me this year. While no I didn’t go through a gut wrenching breakup romantically, many of the songs were the heartache I felt after the falling out I had with the company I left and the despair I felt during the chaos. But then superbloom the single came out just after it all had passed and like the song said, I felt better. I had come out the other side and I deserved congratulations because I didn’t think I could survive. The happier songs then made me smile and feel better as 2020 got worse and mental health was a trial. I will forever be grateful for a gift of an album that this was.
2. Manic by Halsey
Favorite Songs: I’m Still Learning, 929, Graveyard, You Should Be Sad, Without You
I still listen to many of these songs daily even though this was one of the first albums of the year. Halsey’s voice and lifestory are reflected so authentically through the music and it’s just a wonderfully put together album. Can’t wait to hear more from her. I was supposed to see Halsey live this year, but that didn’t happen. She rescheduled to 2021, but I have a feeling June won’t be doable just yet.
3. No One Else Can Wear Your Crown by Oh Wonder
Favorite Songs: Hallelujah, Dust, Better Now, Happy, I Wish I Never Met You
Hallelujah was originally going to be my theme song this year, but when 2020 took its turn that changed. Still the third album is a treasure and a lot the music’s lyrics still bring comfort and catharsis for me throughout the year. I was supposed to seem them live, but whenever the virus clears I can’t wait to them perform these songs.
4. evermore by Taylor Swift
Favorite Songs: Majorie, Willow, Ivy, Coney Island, No Body No Crime, Closure
5. folklore by Taylor Swift
Favorite Songs: Illicit Affairs, The 1, peace, this is me trying, betty, cardigan
Taylor, the very fact you put out two huge albums this year is mind blowing enough, but they are wondeful and the alternative style suits you very much. These have been wonderful albums to relax and work to and the stories behind the lyrics are great for the imagination to run away with. And while it just came out, I’ve been listening to evermore almost on repeat since it came out because not only is a great sister album, but the storytelling just feels deeper. So thank you!
6. Under My Influence by the Aces
Favorite Songs: Going Home, My Phone is Trying to Kill Me, Lost Angeles, Daydream, Kelly, 801
I loved that these girls continue to put out solid albums and this one was not only another elevation of their style, but by letting the songs reflect the sexuality of its members, it brought it to another level. This is only the second album from them, but its clear they are bringing more exciting music and perspective onto the scene. Can’t wait for more.
7. Post Human Survival Horror by Bring Me The Horizon
Favorite Songs: Kingslayer, Ludgens, Parasite Eve, Obey, Teardrops
I never could picture myself saying I was a fan of harder metal or a fan of Bring Me the Horizon, but this album changed that and I have Babymetal to thank for that. Their collab on Kingslayer is not only the pure chaos and fun that is Babymetal, but hearing the reason behind the lyrics and meaning of the song gives me a great perspective on what BMTH was trying to achieve not only with this song but the whole album, which is you do fight back, you do what you can to end corruption, you don’t give up no matter the cost.
8. Conversations with Myself About You by lovelytheband
Favorite Songs: waste, loneliness for love, flowers (on my grave), I should be happy
During the times where it was harder to put up a front of being okay or being positive on what’s going on, I felt this album carried that perfect feeling of dejected, hating on yourself, and feeling empty which is why it became a favorite. Not that you ever want to wallow in those feelings, but when you need a moment to just sit with them, this album hit the right feelings.
9. Strange Days by The Struts
Favorite Songs: Strange Days, All Dressed Up (With Nowhere to Go), Burn It Down, Wild Child
The anthem album for 2020. It takes you through the emotions of feelings of being in quarantine, wanting to have fun when you can’t go out, and wondering when or if this will end anytime soon. I loved the way the band encapsulated this in this album and also still made it sound like a solid Struts album. I can’t wait to party with them again some days, but it was nice that they could capture their own feelings of this year into such a solid album.
10. High Road by Kesha
Favorite Songs: Chasing Thunder, High Road, Birthday Suit, Potato Song (Because I Want To)
This was another great album by Kesha. It had its fun and silly songs and lyrics which you come to just enjoy with her, the fun party dance songs to just have a good time, but the surprise hit was Chasing Thunder. Again, it felt like this was a song that called to me and reverberated inside me as a way to describe who I am and what my life goals were and its something that whenever it came on gave me hope, when hope was hard to find.
Notable Mentions:
1. Carry On by The Score
2. Alicia by Alicia Keys
3. A Letter to My Younger Self by Quinn XCII
4. Colour Vision by Max
5. Rare by Selena Gomez
6. The Original Motion Picture Show Part 2 by Saint Motel
7. This is Our Life EP by Des Rocs
8. Goosebumps EP by Bastille
And some of my favorite songs this year that didn’t come from albums or I didn’t get the full album to enjoy (or in OneRepublic’s case: didn’t actually release the album and pushed it back until March 2021...):
1. Bang! by AJR
2. Bummerland by AJR
3. Level of Concern by twenty one pilots
4. Didn’t I by One Republic
5. Lasting Lover by Sigala
6. Not in the Same Way by 5 Seconds of Summer
7. Bored by Tessa Violet ft. Mandy Lee
8. Happy Face by Jagwar Twin
9. Be Kind by Marshmello ft. Halsey
10. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
11. BxMxC by Babymetal
12. Dynamite by BTS
13. Head Up High by FITZ
14. OK Not to Be Okay by Marshmello ft. Demi Lovato
15. Only the Young by Taylor Swift
16. Perfecta by Luis Fonsi ft. Farruko
17. Still Have Me by Demi Lovato
18. Turning Up (R3HAB Remix) by Arashi
19. Wanted by OneRepublic
20. Wayne by Des Rocs
21. Brick by Brick by American Authors
22. Microphone by American Authors
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Crash Course on My Life These Past 5 Years
(In case you were curious, dear followers)
Fell in love with Ciara
Got a part-time job working in a language testing lab at a community college
Diagnosised with Major Depression Disorder and began taking medication
Started practicing witchcraft
Moved in with Ciara
Gained another part time job at a small public library in a rich neighborhood - still not paid a living wage
With Rebecca Sugar's coming out I discovered that I am a nonbinary woman (she/they)
Went to see a psychiatrist who diagnosised me with PTSD though likely it's C-PTSD
I was passed over for full-time at the library not once, not twice, but 4 times!
Even though that 1st summer I kicked ass and earned a prestigious award from the city
Needless to say I've been looking for a full-time else where
Moved out of (yet another) toxic situation and into a rather wonderful apartment
Ciara and I learned we're both polyamorous
They started dating this awesome person who works the graveyard shift
I'm crushing on a male(whhaaa??) coworker who may very well only see me as a friend (WHY DOES MY HEART DO THIS TO ME)
I'm SUPER FUCKING BI.
I turned 30 and I'm just like ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
So far this age means: can't hold my liquor as well as I used to, bones crack more, i don't got time for ANYTHING
I drove down to San Antonio and back in about 24 hours to bury our dog. I drove the car the whole way. At night. Without cruise control.
I surprised Ciara with a visit from their best friend for their birthday
The best friend was secretly also there to help and witness a proposal
I proposed to Ciara and they said "Ok, sure." 😂
Ciara is now my f[ish]ancé
Started to gain/learn new and exciting experiences and skills in relation to library science and then
COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAPPENED.
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i’d love to hear your cursed child opinions!
Oh boy, well now you’ve unleashed me :D lol I don’t know if you’re interested more in what I loved or in what I’d critique, so I’ll go for both I guess? And you can read whichever you like :) But tbh you won’t hear anything new from me that you haven’t heard other fans talk about. Anyways, here are my thoughts on the actual play: [Spoiler alert I guess!]
Things I loved:
- THE MAGIC!!! The effects were EVERYTHING. The time warp, the telephone booth, the floo, the underwater, the dementors, the writings on the walls, and so much more… Really cool!!! And I loved the whole vibe and aesthetic of the play too, it felt authentic and fitting! THE SWISHY CLOAKS!! I want them!!
- The scenes I especially enjoyed were Harry’s nightmares, glimpses into his past and scenes from the books in general. I think they executed those quite well, made me really soft! Especially the scenes of little Harry in his cupboard and also him in the graveyard. Gripped my heart. Oh, I also loved that they finally showed Cedric in the end, he was so perfect!!
- Draco. Yes yes yes to dad Draco. Still bitchy, pretentious, and petty, trying so hard to play cool and tough, but a pained softie deep inside—we STAN. The relationship between him and his son I CRI EVRITIEM!!! Draco in the alternative timeline letting Scorpius do what he believes in, Draco in the real timeline hugging his son, I LIVE. And oh my god that scene where Draco walked in to Harry crying.. GOD. Yes emotions, yes vulnerability, yes bonding, yes yes yes. (Though I still can’t get over the ponytail. Would’ve been more than fine if Lucius hadn’t been portrayed with long hair lol)
- I loved Albus!! He’s a good Slytherin boy! That’s all I have to say. He’s a good friend and son who tries his best. I liked him a lot, more so now after watching the play. He really did remind me of Harry in a lot of ways. (Also, unpopular opinion, but I always loved Albus Severus’ name and I always will, fight me.)
- And just all the dad-son relationships, parenthood themes, friendship between the boys, related conflicts… Loved all of them. Touching, inspiring, couldn’t get enough!
- McGonagall was fcking ON POINT. Fcking QUEEN. Get it girl. Show em how to understand and respect children 👏👏👏
- I really loved Snape too! It was nice to finally see him being his self that only Dumbledore got to see in the books. I loved his demeanor too. I know actors change, but the one I saw portrayed Snape in a way that felt more canon. As much as I love Alan Rickman, he was a bit too graceful and sophisticated for canon Snape. In the play, however, Snape was kind of more rough, more rash, less pulled together in a way that he spoke and moved. It’s subtle but I lived for that. Also he was finally short. Yes.
- I feel like I have to mention Harry too. I actually quite liked him, so I’m gonna put him under this list as well. Yeah, that one scene where he threatened McGonagall into strict surveillance of his son is a bit much, errr 😅😅😅 But overall, I like the idea of him struggling as a father, making mistakes and learning from them. He’s a good egg.
- Ron and Hermione, my babies!! I had issues with Ron’s characterization, but I did mostly enjoy the portrayal of their relationship. I liked that their roles within the play were mostly to be together or to find their ways to each other. Since so many fans are against their ship, I was really excited to see them. And I just loved Hermione in general. They got her characterization almost on-point too, I think. I just love her 🥰
- In general, I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue. I liked all those strong, emotional one-liners that make you gasp. Harry saying things, Albus saying things, Scorpius, Draco, Ginny, others… There were good examples of lines they’d say that perfectly articulated everything that they embodied or felt or were dealing with. Well done there.
Okayyy I’m sure there’s more I could think of, definitely, but I’ll stop here since this is already a lot 😁
Things I questioned:
- So the one single biggest thing that I am the most critical of has to do with the plot itself, and it’s about Cedric turning into a Death Eater. I’m sorry but I just can’t. I could write a whole essay on how this makes no canonical sense (and I probably will if you ask me lmaoo), but to sum it up, Cedric eventually turning bitter and evil because he was publicly humiliated directly contradicts his canon character development. Cedric’s humility, kindness, and fairness are the core qualities around which Cedric’s personality was developed in the books. He almost explicitly places popularity, glory, and reputation second, and that’s critical, because if failure and humiliation were to affect him so drastically, his primary core values needed to be broken down and changed beforehand, but they never weren’t. So presenting the Triwizard incident as the turning point for him does not make any sense, and as a result the rest of the narrative falls apart. This is a plot hole and hasty writing.
- Yeah, Bellatrix having a child is still kinda weird 🙃🙃 I just hate that because in the books Bellatrix played the archetype of this anti-mother, the antithesis of motherhood and motherly love. I feel like having her voluntarily bring a child into this world destroys that symbolism. It makes me unsatisfied.
- I had some issues with the very beginning and the whole “montage” of events leading up to the fourth year. I found it overwhelming and disorienting, even though I’ve already read the script and knew what’s going on. Still, I felt like I was hit by a train, watching all the fast-paced scenes, cliché chaotic small talk going on, years going by… It felt messy for some reason. I feel like I need to watch it again in order to fully catch up and process everything I saw, and that’s not a good sign. But I didn’t hate it, I just wish we were more eased into the story.
- Scorpius. Now listen. When I read the script, Scorpius was my favorite character. I LOVED him, this awkward nerd who loves his dad and best friend with all his heart. The way I grew to imagine him was quite not how he was portrayed in the play. I know the dialogue and everything’s all the same, but idk, Scorpius in the play was way more hyper, bolder than I pictured, and worst of all, he was going out of his way to be this wannabe player. He seemed so all over the place, even acting a bit arrogant sometimes, celebrating moments of over-confidence, chasing after girls, trying to be everything BUT himself. But that honestly might just be my takeaway alone. There’s nothing actually wrong with his character, I just found myself slightly disappointed with him in the play specifically. I wish I could see the play again to actually analyze things more thoroughly to explain why I feel this way, but I can’t. I still like Scorpius, but a different version of him. (tho damn did I love those skinny pants on him lmao 👌👌)
- Moaning Myrtle. Like, I laughed, it was funny, but it just wasn’t very tasteful lol and I was left feeling a bit uncomfortable from the idea of this young murdered girl writhing and thirsting over literally everyone. The play really blew that out of proportion and idk it’s kinda awkward when I think about it 😅 And in general, there was just so much thirsting… with Rose, Polly Chapman, Delphi… Not to mention Albus kissing his AUNT… Like damn chill JK please 😂 Weird cliches and teenage hormones aren’t the only source of comedy okay?? 😂😂😂 Also, speaking of Myrtle, I kinda wish there was something mentioned about Draco having had been friends with her in sixth year. Idk it would’ve been nice to see that relationship somehow reminisced since we didn’t really get to see it :)
- Craig Bowker Jr... If he was supposed to be a parallel to Cedric, both being the spare, why did he get literally zero attention?? We don’t really know who he is, we don’t see anyone hurting because of his death, he’s killed with such apathy. We don’t even see his parent grieving, like we saw Amos (who also happen to be an integral part to the plot of CC!). The whole parallel is so incomplete. Poor Craig and his unsymbolic death..
- Ok I am obviously elaborating way too much so let me just quickly summarize the rest of things I don’t actually hate but might wanna rant about: RON IS NOT A JOKSTER—GEORGE IS. RON IS A FIGHTER. HE IS ALSO HARRY’S BEST FRIEND, NOT HERMIONE, BUT HE WAS MADE USELESS AND UNNEEDED, WHICH IS HIS ACTUAL WORST FEAR, SO WHO THE FUCK DARED. ROSE IS MORE THAN A BITCHY ROMANTIC INTEREST AND A BAD FRIEND. WHERE THE HELL IS HUGO. GINNY’S EVEN COOLER THAN SHE WAS PORTRAYED, I PROMISE. THE SURPRISE SECOND TIME TURNER ERRRR LOUSY PLOT DEVICE I’M SORRY. LACKLUSTER PLOT IN GENERAL, THE ONLY ACTUAL TWIST IS DELPHI’S REVEAL—NOT ENOUGH, JKR KNOWS BETTER THAN THIS, THE BOOKS WERE FULL OF TWISTS AND TURNS (but that’s kinda okay with me because the relationships between characters in CC really made the whole story worth it).
Alright enough :’D I’m not actually upset, just exaggerating haha Because overall, I liked the play. I wanna see it again. And I wanna analyze it more, too. I’m so excited I finally got to watch it. It’s far from flawless, but I’m still happy with it overall and want to approach it positively! Sure, I’ll rant when it’s ranting time, but I do love it (:
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A cute duckling in an ugly world
A twist on an old story. A cute duckling in an ugly demon world. A cute demon that starts with nothing, fighting trough the world, the insults, laughter of others at her appearance and other demons making fun of her for being cute, for being different.
But that's not how her story ends.
————————————————–
Chapter 1. The city
There isn’t a more heartwarming moment than a look on a parent’s face full of pride. A mother proud of her child was a thing that could warm a whole room.
“Stop that mom. You’re embracing me and dad.” Alcid said.
“I don’t care. I’m so proud of you. You’re finally going to high school.” Her mother said.
“It’s not like I’m going to be a doctor after this. It’s just high school mom.” Alcid said.
“Yeah, leave the kid alone.” Her father said. “You and I also went to the same high school. You know how it is there. Just a bunch of spoiled brats.”
“Will you let me enjoy this moment.” Her mother said.
“No, because we have better things to do. The bus will be here in fifteen minutes and I still have to tend to the tree eaters.” Her father said.
“Alright, but this is on you. Alcid come and visit us when you have a chance. And don’t forget to have fun.” Her mother said.
The summer’s red sun was still high up in the sky. The bus ride to the city should take about two hours and the ride to the school dorm another hour. Alcid was excited to finally go to the only city. There were smaller towns and villages but this was the only city. She had already been in the city with her father to get supplies for the farm, but this time it was different. This time she was going alone and she’ll have four years to explore the city on her own.
The bus arrived and she got on. This year Alcid was the only one from her village to go to high school. Maybe that was better, Alcid was excited to make new friends. As they arrived at the city, she got out of the bus. She stood in front of the bus station for a few moments absorbing the environment. The city was so big and full of everything your heart desired. She snapped out of it and took out a piece of paper out of her pocket. Alcid read the instructions on how to get to the bus to the school dorms and started to head towards the tram that will take her there. While walking to the tram she looked around just taking in the city atmosphere, dragging her suitcase behind her.
At the tram station, someone bumped into her and she fell. Alcid looked in the direction of the one who pushed her and saw a bunch of guys looking at her and laughing. She forgot that the way she looked would cause problems for here in the city. She was different from other demons. Alcid didn’t have sharp teeth, scaly skin, big claws, horns or spikes on her body, couldn’t roar and scare others. Alcid was smaller than other demons, she was half their size, she had white fluffy fur all over her body, small sharp teeth, long arms, reaching down to her knees, small claws and a black flower that cowered almost the entire left side of her head. Her favorite color was black so she always wore black dresses, jackets and shoes. That made her even cuter.
When the train arrived, Alcid hoped on and took a seat. The train was running on rails above the ground so she got to see more of the city. The city seemed chaotic. In the middle, there was a big graveyard and a lake full of demons relaxing and picnicking. One part was full of tall buildings, with one towering over all the others. It was so big that it was blocking the sun. There were other buildings like the City horror museum and other art museums. Alcid couldn’t wait to go see them all. Her village was small, even compared to other villages, and there were no museums or galleries. The biggest event in her village was the Halloween fair that was only interesting for the little ones.
After some time she saw the school in the distance. It was big. Alcid read that a lot of demons come to this school from their villages because many the villages don’t have their own high schools, like hers. As the train came closer to the school, Alcid took her suitcase and headed towards the doors. She could hear a murmur of voices, insults and laughter. Alcid knew that they were all directed at her. It was tough being a cute demon in a world of scary demons.
When the train stopped, she got out and read the instructions to see where she had to register. The instructions just said that she needed to register at the A3 building but there were around fifteen buildings on the school grounds. ’How am I supposed to know where the A3 building is?’ Alcid thought and looked around. She saw a map of the school grounds, walked over to it, found the building on the map and headed there.
The building was massive, Alcid’s whole village could live in it. Alcid saw a door in the middle of the building and went through. A black demoness was sitting in a small room sharpening her claws. She had long black and red hear, six horns coming out of her forehead, one red and one white eye and claws as long as Alcid’s forearm.
“Hi! My name is Alcid Kirara. I’m here to register.” Alcid said.
The demoness looked at her and said. “You sure you’re in the right place?”
“Yes. My instructions said I have to register at the A3 building.” Alcid said.
“What I mean sweetie is that you don’t look like a demon. You sure you should be here?” The demoness said.
“Yes. I’m sure. I’m here to learn to be a demon.” Alcid said.
“Alright.” The demoness said and then yelled “Shaosi! Get down here! We got a new one!”
After a few seconds, Alcid heard a commotion and someone running like crazy down the stairs. At the last part of the stairs, the demoness missed a step and came falling down towards them. She got up, straightened her clothes and asked the demoness in the small room. “You called?”
“Yes, we have a new one. First year student. Take her to her room and explain the rules to her.” The demoness said pointing to Alcid. Shaosi, the demoness who fell down the stairs, looked at Alcid confused. Shaosi was tall, even for a demon, half of her body was white and the other half, blood red. Both of her eyes were completely black and her shoulders and upper arms were covered in sharp spikes. “You sure this is the new one?” Shaosi asked the demoness.
“Just do as I said Shaosi.” The demoness replied.
“Alright. What’s your name?” Shaosi asked.
“Alcid.” Alcid replied.
“Come with me. I’ll show you your room.” Shaosi said.
While they were walking, Shaosi started to explain things about the school to Alcid. “Welcome to the Exclusive vicious international lethal academy or as we like to call it EVIL academy. Each floor has students from the corresponding year. This is your first year so your room is on the first floor.”
As they climbed up on the first floor and entered the right wing of the building Alcid could hear a loud *kssshsssshss!* sound coming from a closet behind the door.
“Don’t mind that. That’s just Varmparia. She doesn’t like the light so she hides in dark places. Just ignore her.” Shaosi said.
“Ok.” Alcid said.
”Where was I? Oh yeah! On the ground floor are the bathrooms and the cafeteria. Breakfast is at seven, before first classes, Lunch is at three and dinner is at eight. In your first year, you will have all of the general classes but from the second year you will be able to choose the classes you want.”
“I’ll be able to choose classes. How does that work?” Alcid asked.
“Well, not all demons are the same. Some are good at possessing mortals, some age good at scaring them, causing deception and destruction even on a global scale and some are good at tempting the mortals so that they to become demons. So, in the second year you can focus on what you want to do as a demon. I’m currently the best in my class and at tempting mortals to become demons.” Shaosi said and grinned showing her sharp teeth.
After some more walking, they reached a room, Shaosi opened the door and walked in. The room had two beds, tables and closets. There was nothing special about the room, there were no decorations, no pictures, just some scribbles on the walls from the previous students.
“One bed, table and closet are yours. Your roommate will come tomorrow. The rules are simple, you can do whatever you like except killing other students. This year my roommate Oumiu and I are in charge of helping the first year students, but if we are not here and you need help, you can ask any of the older students for help. My room is on the fifth floor, room number 5C.” Shaosi said, gave her a school brochure and said. “Unpack, get comfy and enjoy yourself. You’re goanna like it here. Bye!” Shaosi waved and left.
Alcid sat on one of the beds and took a deep breath. She was here, it was happening, she will finally learn how to be a proper demon. As the excitement eased, she started to unpack. All of the things from her suitcase fitted on one shelf. Alcid decided that she’ll go shopping for new things when she gets a chance. Meanwhile, she lay down on the bed and started to read the brochure Shaosi gave her. There was nothing interesting written in there, but it made the time go faster. Soon enough it was eight o’clock and time for dinner.
Alcid got out of the room and went downstairs to the cafeteria. As soon as she entered the cafeteria, she saw the looks on the faces of other demoness’ and could her murmur of voices and laughter. ‘I don’t think Shaosi was right. I don’t think I’ll like it here.’ Alcid thought, grabbed a tray of food and sat in a corner of the cafeteria, alone.
The next day Alcid was still in bed when her roommate arrived. First, she heard a commotion as if twenty people were running through the hallway and then the door to her room opened.
“Hurry up! I’m not paying you to slack around. Put the suitcases and the boxes in the room. I said… Hurry up!!!” Alcid heard an annoying voice yelling and giving orders. Demon after demon entered the room and put suitcases and boxes on the floor. When they were done, there were ten suitcases and six boxes occupying the whole room.
“Now leave! I sad leave!” The annoying voice yelled and a demoness entered. She had dark gray skin, pointed ears and six silver horns coming out of her forehead, twisting back, framing her head. She had long black hear that reached all the way to her knees, a black dress ornamented by intricate silver stitching in the shape of human skulls. She looked at the room and said.
“Is this where they want me to live? They’re all barbarians like humans. There’s not even enough place for all my things.” The demoness’ said and her gaze stopped at Alcid. “And what are you? You don’t look like a demoness. You look like a children’s doll.”
“I’m Alcid and I am a demoness.” Alcid said.
“Huh, it talks.” The demoness’ said.
“Stop being rude Astera.” Shaosi said. “Alcid this is Astera. Your roommate. Try to get along you two. And Astera try to be a bit less like yourself. Ok?” Shaosi said and left.
“How many things do you have? I’m going to need both closets.” Astera asked.
“Not many, I...” Alcid started to say but Astera interrupted her and said. “Alright then. One shelf is yours and all the rest is mine.” Astera started unpacking and occupied all the closet space. From one of the boxes, Astera took out paper scrolls and hanged them over her bed.
“What are those symbols on the paper scrolls?” Alcid asked.
“Are you from the moral realm or what? Everybody knows that the oldest families have their sacred symbols that bring them luck, prosperity, fortune and other things on paper scrolls.” Astera said.
“Oh.” Alcid replied. Her family didn’t have those.
The first year classes were mostly concentrated on general things like the history of demons. Alcid knew the history by heart all the way to the part when the king and the queen of demons were killed and their daughter went missing, fifteen years ago because the king wanted to ban the killing of mortals. Her village was small and there was nothing to do there, so most of the time Alcid spent reading books. She liked history books, books about hero demons and math. Because of that, the classes that thought general things were boring to Alcid. The worst thing about the classes was that all the teachers, seeing how small Alcid was, asked her to sit in the front row so that she could see. She wanted to sit in the back to avoid others talking about her, quietly insulting her, laughing and throwing things at her. But that was now her everyday routine.
The only class Alcid really liked was literature. She liked books, but she didn’t like the class just because of the literature, she liked it because of the teacher, Miss Xubrah. Every time a student in her class started to talk, laugh or do something without her permission she snapped her tree meter long tail, with spikes on the end at the student, leaving a cut in his face. Soon enough, in her class, nobody made fun of Alcid. Miss Xubrah was everything Alcid wanted to be. She had gray skin, black eyes, she was calm, composed, had long sharp spikes on her head, instead of her hear and that magnificent tail.
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Chapter 2. The friend
Two months into school and Alcid still didn’t make any friends. Everyone she met just made fun of her. She talked with Shaosi a few times about it but Shaosi couldn’t help her. Shaosi couldn’t stop all the demons picking on and making fun of Alcid because she was different. Even Astera, Alcid’s roommate, asked that they moved her to another room because Alcid was damaging her reputation. Soon enough, one of the demonesses wasn’t careful in chemistry class and blew herself up so Astera moved to her room. Alcid was now all alone, but at least she now had a sanctuary where no one insulted her and made fun of her.
In two weeks Halloween vacation will start. Halloween was the most celebrated day of the year. Halloween was the time of the year you spend with your family celebrating, giving each other gifts and eating so much food until you burst. Halloween was special for one more reason. With the red blood moon in the sky, the barrier between the demon world and the mortal world was the thinnest on that day so the student demons, who usually couldn’t cross to the mortal world, each year made a bet on who can scare a mortal to death. Others treated the winner of the bet like a king for the rest of the school year. The teachers knew about the beat, and that they were going to the mortal world without permission, but it was a good exercise for the students, so they let them do it.
Alcid left the school and returned to her village for the Halloween vacation. Her mother had so many questions about the school, other demons, friends she made, but Alcid wasn’t in the mood to talk about school. She dodged the questions telling her mother that everything was fine and asking her how she and her father were. Most of her vacation she spent visiting her friends from the village and in her room.
One day Alcid looked around her room thinking that she could take something with her to school to remind her of home when one of her bone ornaments fell under her bed. She kneeled on the floor and looked under her bed to see where it went. It stopped at the wall, as far away as it could have, of course. Alcid lay down on the floor to retrieve it and when she was under the bed, she looked up. She saw a big piece of paper on the bed under the mattress. She retrieved the bone ornament, stood next to the bed and lifted the mattress. The paper she saw had a symbol similar to the symbols Astera had on her paper scrolls. But how, her family wasn’t one of the old families. Alcid took the paper scroll and rolled it into a tube. She wanted to find out what it meant before she confronted her parents.
With Halloween vacation almost over Alcid went back to school. She got some nice new dresses, jackets and boots for Halloween. Her mother always knew what she liked. As she entered her dorm room, she saw two suitcases and a white demoness with two black horns, with ridges, on her head unpacking.
The demoness saw her and said. “Hi, I’m Kheba. I’m your new roommate.” Kheba said. She was white like Alcid with two small black horns on her, long sharp claws and a tail.
“Hi, I’m Alcid. How come you arrived just now?” Alcid asked.
“My family moves around a lot and there’s a whole bunch of us. This is my second high school and I told my dad that this time I’m staying here because this school has dorms.” Kheba said. “So what kind of a demon are you? What’s your power?” she asked.
Alcid realized that she never told anyone what her power was because no one asked her. She stood in the room for a few seconds and then said. “Well… It’s nothing special. Do you see this flower on my head? It produces an acid that can dissolve anything in seconds.”
“That’s amazing.” Kheba said. “Can you show me?”
“Yes. Do you have anything that you don’t want to see ever again?” Alcid asked.
“Yeah, just a sec.” Kheba rummaged through one of her suitcases and took out a framed picture of her as a small child.
“You sure you want to get rid of that? You look so adorable in that picture.” Alcid said.
Kheba gave Alcid a serious look and said. “That’s why I want to get rid of it.”
“Ok then, put it on the desk.” Alcid put her left hand next to her left ear and tilted her head to the left. A black acid with a silver glare came out of the center of the flower and into her hand. Alcid put her hand over the framed picture and said. “Say goodbye.” she dropped the acid onto the framed picture. The acid started to simmer and dissolve the picture. In a few seconds, the framed picture was no more.
“Awesome.” Kheba said again.
“What’s your power?” Alcid asked.
“Oh, I don’t have any powers yet. I’ll get them when I finish high school. That’s the way my family works. One of my uncles is going to retire soon and I will take his place.” Kheba said.
“What family are you from?” Alcid asked.
“Oh, you never saw one like me? I’m from the Krampus family. I’m the one hundredth generation Krampus. We are one of the oldest demon families. The first Krampus demon dates back two thousand years back, but as the mortal population got bigger, there was more demand for Krampus demons. There are now around two hundred Krampus demons roaming around. Each of us young ones is an empty canvas until one of the Krampus demons retires. Every Krampus demon retires after two hundred years of being a Krampus and then lives the rest of his life in here.” Kheba said.
“So you will get your powers. But why do you have to go to high school?” Alcid asked.
“I need the badge to cross over to the mortal world. Without finishing high school I can’t get permission and go to the mortal world. A Krampus that can’t go to the mortal world isn’t worth anything.” Kheba said.
“Can I ask you something?” Alcid asked.
“Yeah, sure.” Kheba said.
“Your family is one of the oldest demon families, so can you ask them what this means?” Alcid opened her bag and pulled out the paper that was under her bed.
“Hmmm… It doesn’t look familiar to me, but I’ll take a photo and send it to my family. If they know something I’ll tell you.” Kheba said.
“Thanks.” Alcid said thinking that Kheba was the first demon that didn’t make fun of her. Who knows, maybe she just made her first friend.
Alcid noticed that the behavior of other demons towards her changed ever since Kheba arrived and they became friends. The teasing and laughing sopped. It almost seemed that the other demons started treating her like one of them. They still didn’t want to talk to her but at least they didn’t make fun of her anymore, which made the rest of the school year tolerable.
The first year of school ended and all the students went home for summer vacation. Alcid came back to her village concerned because Kheba’s family had never seen the symbol on the paper she found under her bed. Alcid wasn’t sure if she should confront her parents about that or just enjoy summer and try to find the meaning of the symbol on her own. She decided that she’ll visit the biggest library in the city and search for the symbol when she gets back to school.
She enjoyed the summer in the village. It reminded her of the time before she started high school, but the time flew by really fast. In a few weeks, the summer will end and Alcid will go back to school. She talked with her mother and father about which classes to take in her second year. She definitely wasn’t a demon for scaring or possessing people. She was never good at deception or tempting others, so she had a real dilemma. She had to choose classes but she didn’t know which ones. Her mother said that she’ll be proud of her no matter the classes she chooses.
The summer vacation was ending in a week and Alcid went back to school. When she arrived, she was happy to see that Kheba was her roommate again on the second floor. Alcid thought that that was just coincidence but Kheba explained that she asked to be her roommate and if they didn’t make that happen that shell call her father, the head of the Krampus family. Whatever the reason Alcid was happy that she shared the room with her friend.
Still not sure what classes to take in her second year, Alcid went to see Miss Xubrah, which she admired. She knocked on Miss Xubrah’s door and heard her say “Yes, come in.”.
Alcid came in, stood in front of Miss Xubrah’s desk and Miss Xubrah gestured towards her to sit. Alcid sat and said. “I’m sorry to disturb you, I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I have some questions.”
“Don’t remember you? I remember that I had to snap my tail the most in your class because others were laughing at you and making fun of you. Of course, I remember you. How can I help?” Miss Xubrah said.
“Well, actually I need some advice. You always seemed so calm, composed and had every situation under control. I admire that about you and that’s why I’m here. I’m now starting my second year and don’t know what classes to take. Do you have any advice?” Alcid asked.
“Actually I do. Don’t be one of them. One of the scary, manipulative, tempting demons. There’s a whole bunch of them out there. If you become one of them, you will never be anyone in life, just one out of thousands of scary demons. Do something else. I saw that the words and insults others threw at you hurt you, why not make it opposite. Why don’t you learn how to be smart, ruthless, composed, know how to handle every situation and never let anyone stand in your way, never let anyone’s words and insults hurt you again.” Miss Xubrah said.
Alcid was sitting in the chair listening to Miss Xubrah talk and it all started to make sense in Alcid’s head. She thanked Miss Xubrah for the advice and left. On her way to the dorm, Miss Xubrah’s words echoed in her mind. Miss Xubrah was right, all her life Alcid was letting the words of other demons get to her, but they were just words that she could easily throw back at them. She knew now what classes she would take.
Alcid registered for all the classes that would make her smarter, more ruthless, teach her how to fight and how to act composed and in charge of every situation. By the end, Alcid had fifteen classes this year alone. That many classes didn’t give her much free time but she always found time to hang out with Kheba.
Time flew by fast and Alcid forgot about the paper and the symbol she found under her bed. However, she learned many new things that made her more confident and a much difficult target to make fun of.
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Chapter 3. The symbol
By the end of the third year, Alcid was walking from the main school building to her dorm and walked by a group of demons. One big demon insulted her, she threw an insult back at him and stood looking coldly at him. He turned around, saw the way she was looking at him and that only made him angrier. He walked towards her, grabbed her with is left hand by the neck and slammed her against the wall.
“Who do you think you are you little pest? You think you could insult me and get away with it?” The demon said, squeezed his right hand into a fist and prepared to hit her face. Alcid was holding his left forearm with her hands, kicking him and trying to get free. The other demons yelled at their friend to stop but he ignored them. Alcid started to panic and out of fear the acid started to come out of her palms, dissolving the demons forearm.
The demon and Alcid fell to the floor. The demon screamed in agony as the acid completely dissolved his forearm and hand in a few seconds. One of his friends ran to get a teacher and Alcid was just sitting on the floor, looking at her palms baffled. The teacher arrived and they called an ambulance. The ambulance took the demon away and the teacher took Alcid and the other demons to the school principal.
“Explain what happened.” The school principal said.
“The injured demon attacked me. He grabbed me by the neck and started choking me. I saw that was going to hit me and I defended myself.” Alcid said.
“Is that what happened boys? And if you lie I will know.” The school principal asked the two demons.
“Yes. That’s what happened.” They said, not wanting to suffer the same fate as their friend.
“All right. I will not punish you this time because it was self-defense. However, you have to be more careful with your powers young lady. Now off you go.” The school principal said.
Alcid headed to her dorm thinking about what the school principal said. She had powers. Her acid came out of her palms, not just out of her flower. This has never happened before. On her way to the dorm, she picked up a rock and held it in her hand. She concentrated on letting acid out of her palm, but nothing happened. She repeated it all the way, until she reached the dorm. Maybe she couldn’t control her powers at will, but at least, now she knew that she had them. Alcid told the news to Kheba who immediately gave her a bunch of things she wanted to get rid of.
“You can use those for practice.” Kheba said.
“I’m not a garbage can Kheba.” Alcid said with a serious look on her face, but she took the things Kheba gave her.
Alcid practiced controlling her powers every day and after two months, she successfully dissolved a doll head in her hand. She was so happy that she invited Kheba to go out to lunch and shopping with her.
“Yes! You did it! I’m so proud. Yeah, let’s go out, just don’t dissolve my fork.” Kheba said and laughed.
They had fun out walking around town. They had lunch, went shopping, visited the City horror museum and walked past the City library. That’s when Alcid remembered the paper and the symbol. Alcid made a mental note to come back here and search for the symbol. They made it back to school a few minutes before dinner. After dinner, they went to their room and had fun with dissolving things that Kheba gave to Alcid.
The next day Alcid went to the City library and asked the librarian about books with the demon symbols, but the old demon symbols that belonged to old demon families. The librarian gave her a piece of paper with a list of twelve books so she went and searched for them.
Alcid found them, she took the oldest book first and started to compare the symbols in the book with the symbol from the paper. In the oldest book, she found a similar symbol that represented the royal family, it dated back many thousands of years. It wasn’t the same so Alcid kept looking. After a few more books, she found another symbol that looked similar to hers. It represented good fortune for the royal family, it was similar but it still wasn’t the same. There were still five books left, so she took another one. That one was useless, but the next one had a symbol almost identical to hers, only one line was missing. The symbol represented the prosperity of the royal family. This was getting weird, all the symbols that were similar to hers had something to do with the royal family.
Alcid quickly went through the last two books, and in the last book, she found her symbol. Her symbol represented the change and prosperity of the demon royal family. She sat there looking at the symbol thinking that it must be a joke. She was a simple farmer’s daughter, what connection did she have to the royal family that were murdered seventeen years ago. The same number of years as she was old. Alcid put the books back on the shelves and headed back to her dorm room.
In her room, Alcid sat on the bed, looking at Kheba’s symbols. “How do you know if the demon symbol on a paper scroll is real?” Alcid asked.
“Easy. If it belongs to you, or your family it will glow silver if you touch it. I’ll show you.” Kheba said. Kheba had two paper scrolls with two different symbols on it. She touched the first one and the symbol glowed silver. “This is my family symbol. The circle represents unity and the maze inside it means prosperity.” She said and touched the other one that also glowed silver. “This is my symbol, well, not just mine. It is the symbol of the hundredth generation of the Krampus family. All my sisters and brothers from my generation have the same symbol. The four spirals represent strength and the hands with claws above and underneath it mean to keep us safe. Every symbol has its meaning and that meaning gives it power.” Kheba said.
“Wow. So your family gives each generation a symbol?” Alcid asked.
“Yeah, but other families give each of their children a symbol. We are special because there are so many of us.” Kheba said.
When Kheba was in class Alcid took out her paper scroll and touched the symbol. It glowed silver. It had a maze, two hands with claws, one over and one under the maze and two snakes with heads shaped like arrows encircling the maze and the hands. ‘So the symbol means prosperity, safety and the snakes going in a circle probably mean change like the book said. I have to find the royal family symbol on a paper scroll.’ Alcid though. If the royal symbol doesn’t glow, all her troubles will go away. ‘But what if it glows?’ Alcid though.
Summer came and Alcid went back to the village, to her family. This summer she looked at her mother and father through different eyes. Alcid still loved them but she was upset that they were keeping such a large secret from her. One night at dinner, she asked her parents. “Who am I?”
“What do you mean Alcid? You are our daughter.” Her mother replied.
“Dad, who am I?” Alcid looked at her father with a serious face expecting a different answer. She knew that her father wasn’t a good liar.
“As your mother said...” He started to say but Alcid interrupted him.
“I know what mom sad. I’m asking you. Who am I?” Alcid said.
“Ahh… Well...” Her father looked at her mother, who gave him the I’m going to kill you look, and continued. “You are our daughter.” The words came out of his mouth as if they weighed a ton.
“So you are still going to lie to me?” Alcid asked.
“We are not lying to you. You are our daughter. We raised you, we cared for you and we still do. But...” Her mother suddenly stopped talking.
“But we are not your real parents.” Her father said.
“Then who are my real parents?” Alcid asked.
“We don’t know. Men on horses came to our village. They were carrying you, wrapped in a blanket. They told us to take care of you and they gave us two paper scrolls.” Her mother said.
“They told us to put one school in your bedroom, but we didn’t want the others to see it, so we put it under the mattress. And the other one we hid.” Her father said.
“I found the one in my room. I found out what it was and that’s why I’m asking you who I am. Can you give me the second scroll?” Alcid asked.
“They told us to give it to you when you come of age, when you finish high school.” Her mother said.
“It’s my last year in high school, I’ll be eighteen in a few months. What’s the difference?” Alcid said.
“Ok.” Her father said, stood up and went to get the paper scroll.
“If you knew, why didn’t you say something Alcid?” Her mother asked.
“I need to be sure before I tell you what I found out.” Alcid said.
Her father returned with a paper tube decorated in silver letters, he opened it, took out the paper scroll and gave it to Alcid. She unrolled the paper scroll and looked at the symbol on it. On the top was a crown and underneath it was a circle. Between the crown and a circle was the infinity symbol. In the circle was a maze, in each corner of the scroll was a spiral. Alcid touched the crown and the whole symbol started to glow gold.
“What does that mean?” Her mother asked.
Alcid put the royal scroll on the table, took the paper scroll that was under her bed, out of her bag and put it beside the royal scroll. First, Alcid put her left hand on the symbol from her bedroom and it glowed silver. Then she put her right hand on the royal symbol and both symbols glowed gold.
“This mom means that I am the lost daughter of the king and queen of demons that were killed almost eighteen years ago. The exact number of years as I am old.” Alcid said.
“What are we going to do now?” Her father asked.
“Nothing. I will hide the paper scrolls and we will tell no one about this until I finish high school. I have started to gain powers I didn’t have when I was little and with the knowledge and my powers I will avenge my parent’s murder.” Alcid said.
“You have powers?” Her mother and father asked at the same time.
“Yeah, let me show you.” Alcid went out of the house, grabbed a rock, put it in her palm, started to produce acid in her palm and dissolved the rock in seconds. “That’s not all I can do. I can shoot acid at others from any part of my body.” She said happily.
“Wow! You have powers. This is a time to celebrate. I will make your favorite meal tomorrow.” Her mother said.
“Thanks mom.” Alcid said and started to roll up the paper scrolls, put them in the paper tube decorated in silver letters and in her bag.
After summer vacation, ended Alcid was back in school. The last year was the toughest. Together with classes, they had field trips and had to write papers on things they have learned in the past two years. Alcid even grew a bit in these four years. She had to buy a completely new wardrobe because she outgrew all the clothes she brought from home. Now taller, leaner, more composed, with bigger claws she started to look more like a real demon.
When Alcid wasn’t in class or doing homework, she concentrated on finding out what exactly happened to the king and queen of demons. She knew that the king tried to ban killing the mortals and that the demons rebelled. The king had the power to control fire and the queen to control ice. They were so powerful that, in the attack on the palace, they killed more than a thousand demons.
‘So, with such powers, how did they end up dead? They had to be betrayed. But who had the most to gain from killing them and stopping the ban on killing mortals?’ Alcid thought. The only ones who came into that category were the demons that possessed or scared mortals. Then she remembered. There were demons that fed on mortals. They were very rare and very dangerous. They were the largest and scariest demons that could singlehandedly kill hundreds of demons, so Alcid concentrated on these demons.
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Chapter 4. The power
Alcid found out that there was one mortal eating demon that was alive when the king and queen were murdered and that he was here in the demon realm now. She asked Kheba to go on a walk with her and that she wanted to show her something, when in fact she just didn’t want to go alone to talk to the mortal eating demon. When they reached the cemetery Kheba got mad at Alcid because she lied to her, Alcid apologized and told her she had a good reason.
Alcid walked over to the mortal eating demon who was sitting on a grave cleaning his teeth with a broken demon bone and asked him. “Hi, I’m sorry to bother you but can I ask you a few questions?”
The demon sniffed the air a few times and said. “You smell familiar. Do I know you?”
“I don’t think so. Can you tell me if you hated the royal family? You see, I’m doing this for school and I know you were here when the demons rebelled.” Alcid said.
“Of course I hated the royal family. I’m a mortal eater and the king wanted to ban killing mortals.” The demon said. “I felt such a surge of happiness when I ripped his head from his shoulders.”
Alcid could barely contain her rage and after a few moments, she asked him. “Did you kill the queen too?”
“Yes. I ripped her in half and ate her head. Demons don’t taste as good as mortals.” The demon said.
Alcid was so enraged now that she came closer to the mortal eating demon that was ten times bigger than she was, and said. “Thank you for talking to me. We are going to leave you in pieces now.”
“What? Don’t you mean in peace?” the demon said.
“No. You heard me correctly.” Alcid said and shot her acid all over him. In a few seconds, all that was left of him was a few pieces of bones and skin. The first part of Alcid’s plan was over. He avenged her parent’s death.
“Whoa! That was amazing Alcid.” Kheba said. “Do you know what you just did?”
“I killed a mortal eating demon that killed the king and queen. I know. Why?” Acid said and gave her a confused look.
“I got some amazing pictures. You look like a hero demoness on them.” Kheba said with a smile.
“Pictures? Why did you take pictures?” Alcid asked.
“Because it looked legendary. A battle between the smallest demon and the biggest demon. This will go down into history books!” Kheba said smiling from ear to ear.
“Kheba show me your hands. Good. Now promise me that you won’t show the pictures to anyone or tell anyone what just happened. Promise me!” Alcid said with a serious voice.
“I promise.” Kheba said and rolled her eyes.
“Ok.” Alcid said and they left the cemetery and headed to the dorm.
On their way there, Alcid’s mind was occupied with thoughts about the king and queen’s murder. Now that Alcid avenged their deaths, she had to retake the throne. That meant that she needed to find the traitors of the royal family, to learn to see the deception in others. To know when others are lying so Alcid can remove them from the royal palace in pieces. The royal palace was a fortress. There was no way that such a big demon like a mortal eater could just walk in the royal chamber by himself and there is no way the other demons could break down the doors and swarm the palace without help.
Alcid still wasn’t good at telling when people lied or deceived her. However, as in most cases, it’s easier to see one if you are one. So for her last year courses, Alcid registered for all courses that dealt with lying, deceiving mortals, learning to recognize lies and deceit in others, ways to make others reveal the that they are lying and how to read the body language of liars, manipulators and deceivers.
The next morning, Alcid went down to the cafeteria and when she walked in almost all demoness’ looked at her like she was a goddess, not demoness ‘What’s going on?’ She thought. She took a tray of food and sat next to Kheba. While she was eating, she could feel demonesses’ looking at her, but when she looked at them, they pretended that they weren’t looking at her. Alcid looked at her clothes and body and asked Kheba if there was something strange about her face or flower, but Kheba sad that everything was normal, as usual.
They left to go to class and as Alcid was walking to the main school building some demons looked at her wide-eyed, others with awe in their eyes. Al the demons moved out of her way to make room for her to pass and if a demon didn’t move, the others made sure he did. As she entered the classroom one of the demons that always made fun of her was holding her chair, waiting for her to sit. Alcid sat in the chair and the demon pushed the chair to the table.
‘This is all Kheba’s fault. I forgot about the toes. She showed them the pictures.’ Alcid thought and the second the classes ended, she hurried to her room. She found Kheba lying on the bed, on her stomach, listening to music. Alcid took off her headphones and yelled angrily “You showed them the pictures! You promised you wouldn’t and you still showed them! How could you do that?!”
“You forgot the toes.” Kheba looked at her and said calmly with a small smile.
“Just tell me that you didn’t tell them why we were there and what I was talking about with the mortal eating demon.” Alcid said.
“I didn’t. I just showed hem a picture of you killing the demon and a selfie of me with what was left of the demon.” Kheba said.
“Good. Now sit up and show me your hands and feet and the tail.” Alcid said.
Kheba did what Alcid said. “Now what?” Kheba asked.
“Now you promise me that you won’t tell anybody what I was talking about with the mortal eating demon.” Alcid said.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone what you and the mortal eating demon were talking about. That good enough?” Kheba asked.
“Yes. And you know what will happen if you break your promise?” Alcid asked.
“I know. You will dissolve everything I own with your acid, even the clothes I’m wearing, and give me a haircut with it.” Kheba said with a cold look.
“Good. Then that’s settled.” Alcid said.
The rest of the year went by quickly and Alcid learned a lot about how to recognize liars and deceivers, but she wasn’t the best in her class. The best in her class was a demon called Vannal. He could see if someone was lying just by looking at them, he was a natural. Alcid got along well with him and he thought her a lot. She made a mental note to call on him when she’ll need someone to help her find the traitors of the royal throne
Graduation day was in two weeks, which meant that in two weeks school will be over and all the demons she met in the last four years will start their own lives. The thing that hurt the most was that Alcid won’t be able to spend every day with Kheba. She will miss her, but she had a parting gift for her.
One night, they were both in their room. Alcid told Kheba that she wanted to show her something as a parting gift. Alcid opened a drawer and took out a paper tube decorated in silver letters.
“What is that?” Kheba asked.
“You’ll see.” Alcid opened the paper tube and took out two paper scrolls. She unrolled them both on her bed. On the left was the royal scroll and on the right Alcid’s scroll.
“Wait the scroll with the crown. That’s the royal scroll, right? How did you get it?” Kheba asked.
Alcid looked at Kheba and said. ”Eighteen years ago, knights on horses came to my parents, gave them a child and told them to take care of it. With the child, they gave them these two scrolls. I found this one, on the right, under my bed and my dad gave the other one to me. Now, look what happens when I touch them.”
Alcid put her hand on the symbol on the right and it glowed silver.
“But you aren’t from an old family. Why is it glowing?” Kheba asked.
“That’s not the strangest thing. You know the books of the family symbols in the City library. The symbols magically appear in the books when they are created. This one appeared in the book one day after my day of birth.”
“Ours appear the same way. That’s not weird.” Kheba said.
“The weird part is the explanation next to the symbol. The explanation is change and prosperity of the demon royal family.” Alcid said. “Now watch what happens when I touch the royal scroll.”
Alcid put her right hand on the royal symbol and both symbols started to glow gold.
“Whoa! I’ve never seen a symbol glow gold. Does that mean that you are the missing child?” Kheba asked.
“Well, I am the right age and the symbols glow gold. The king had the power over an element, over the fire, the queen too, over the ice, and I too have power over an element, the acid. So you got a really powerful friend here Kheba.” Alcid said.
“Pfffff… You’re not more powerful than us Krampus’.” Kheba said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Two days before graduation Alcid was sitting in class talking to Vannal and two dozen other demons about what are they going to do after school. None of them had a concrete answer. Most of the demons she was talking to looked scary or threatening but how they felt inside and what they wanted to do in their lives didn’t reflect their appearance.
“What if I tell you that there is a way that you can do what you wanted and not be judged by the way you look. Wood a job like that interest you?” Alcid asked.
The demons looked at her confused and one of them asked. “Is this a joke?”
“No. It’s the opportunity for you to do what you want and to not be judged.” Alcid said.
Al the demons said yes at the same time.
“Wait a second. This is too good to be true. There must be a catch. What is it?” Vannal asked.
Alcid looked at him and said. “Smart and scary. That’s what I like about you. There is a catch. The catch is that you all have to listen to me. Does anyone have a problem with that?”
All the demons said no at the same time and Vannal just shrugged.
The school ended. At the graduation ceremony, they all got medals that gave them the power to go to the mortal realm. They weren’t real medals, they were magic symbols engraved into their skin that let them pass the barrier between the demon and the mortal world. After the ceremony, they celebrated the end of school and promised to keep in touch.
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Chapter 5. The change
A week after school ended Alcid gathered the two dozen demons and together with Vannal they headed towards the royal palace. At the main entrance to the royal palace were two guards that told them that visiting the royal palace vas forbidden.
“Well, then that is good for us because we are not visiting the palace.” Alcid said calmly.
The guards looked at her confused and told her to go away, that the palace was locked and that she couldn’t go in.
“You pour souls. There isn’t a place I can’t go.” Alcid said and put her palm on the door lock, she began releasing acid and the door lock started to dissolve. The guards looked at her and the door baffled. Once the lock dissolved completely, Alcid opened the door and she and the demons with her entered the main entrance of the palace.
The main entrance looked unkempt. There was dust everywhere, the floor was dirty and the carpet had disgusting stains and smelled awful. All of this was the fault of the mayor of the city who lived here. All the demons in the demon world were corrupt mortal souls, but the mayor’s soul was so corrupt with greed and disregard for others that he was the number one on the list of most hated demons. The only things that kept him as a mayor of the city were his political ties and the corrupt and greedy souls of other demons in high positions.
They climbed the stairs towards the door to the royal throne room. The door was all scratched up from the battle with the demons, but they were also full of dust and rust. The doors were so full of rust that the larger demons from the group barely managed to open it. The royal throne room looked like the battel and the murder of the king and queen, Vikorith and Domitia Chaios, happened only yesterday. There were broken statues, broken glass, broken furniture and claw marks all around the room and on the floor. Alcid started to walk towards the king and queens thrones, but stopped when she saw blood on the carpet, leading to the thrones. The mayor didn’t even have the decency to clean the blood of her parents. Barely keeping herself composed, rage building inside of her, she asked one of the demons to alert all the media that in an hour something is going to happen on the balcony where the royal family spoke to the public.
In that hour, Alcid asked one of the other demons that was skilled in magic, to make a big screen with sound over the balcony and to show what was happening on the balcony on that screen, so that all the demons on the main square in front of the palace could see. She also told him to make the same screens with sound in all towns and villages.
With twenty minutes to go, Alcid stood next to the balcony preparing for her speech holding the paper tube with silver decorations in her hands. With five minutes to go, Alcid stepped out on the balcony and pulled down the strings that usually held the paper scrolls. She opened the paper tube and took out the paper scrolls. She hanged her paper scroll on the right side of the balcony and the royal paper scroll on the left.
She turned around and saw hundreds of demons on the main square and all the news crews. Alcid started to get nervous but Vannal peeked onto the balcony and said. “You can do it. Just pretend you are talking to us.” He smiled and left.
The big screen over her showed her and the two paper scrolls behind her. Alcid walked over to the edge of the balcony and said. “My fellow demons and demoness I stand today before you as Alcid Chaios.”
Alcid heard a murmur in the crowd of demons but she continued. “I am the lost child that disappeared on the day my parents, the king and queen, Vikorith and Domitia Chaios, were murdered. They were betrayed and then murdered by a mortal eating demon. I avenged their murder and killed the mortal eating demon.” As she said the pictures that Kheba took of her throwing acid at the demon and the demon dissolving appeared on the screen.
“To prove to you that I really am the lost child and heir to the throne, I have the royal symbol and the symbol given to me by the king and queen. They are all in the books of symbols connected to the royal family. I will touch the symbols and you will see that they are my family’s symbol and my symbol.”
At that moment, the mayor stepped on to the balcony and angrily yelled. “It doesn’t matter who you are! I run this city! The time of kings and queens is in the past. You have no authority, no power here! This city, the demon world is mine. Do you understand?!”
Alcid looked calmly at him and quietly said. “I have all the right and all the power I need.” She smiled at him, put her hand on his forehead and acid started to run down his face. In a few seconds, the mayor was gone. Alcid heard cheering from hundreds of demons on the main square.
“Now, quiet down and look.” Alcid turned around, lifted her right hand, touched her symbol and it glowed silver. Then she lifted her left hand and touched the royal symbol. Both symbols glowed gold. Alcid heard a simultaneous whoa sound of hundreds of demons. She lowered her hands and turned around back towards the square. The demons were all, for a few moments, looking at her wide-eyed and then started chanting her name repeatedly. “Alcid Chaios, our queen! Alcid Chaios, our queen...”
The demons in the palace helped her take down the scrolls and put them in a safe place. With the mayor gone it was time to renovate the palace. She ordered the guards to summon the staff in the throne room. Alcid was standing in the middle of the throne room when the staff members began to enter. When they all kneeled before her, she asked. “Can you explain to me why the most important room in the palace looks like this?” However, she got no answer.
She walked over to one of the staff members and told him to stand up.
“I asked a question and I expect an answer.” Alcid said.
“The mayor told us to leave it as it is.” The staff member said.
“You see, it’s not that difficult.” Alcid said. “There are fifty of you so I will put you to good use. I have tasks for all of you. I will give you a month to clean the palace and make new carpets and decorations.”
“You will remove the damaged things and clean the dust, the mold and help the workers I’ll hire to repair the damaged windows and statues.” Alcid said to the men.
“You will make a new carpet for the throne room and wall decorations. The new royal colors are white, black, red, blood red and silver. The carpet in the throne room will be black with a silver edge and blood red symbols from the royal and my paper scroll. Do you understand?” Alcid said to the women.
In the meantime, Alcid will use the time to find out who betrayed her parents. She asked the guards if there was anyone here, in the palace, who was in the palace when the king and queen were murdered. The guard said that the mayor chased away everyone from the palace and put his own people in.
Alcid also used the time to fulfill the promises she made to her demon friends. She asked her friend what they wanted to do and got some strange answers from such scary demons. One wanted to be chief of staff, another a librarian, one less scary one liked animals so he wanted to run the stables, the biggest of them all wanted to be the leader of the royal guard. Alcid warned him that the guards at the palace were the mayor’s guards ant that they were probably spies for others. She told him to get rid of the guards that are here now and to look for other demons who wanted the job. She also planned to get rid of the staff members when the renovation was over and make a clean start.
After two weeks, an older demon came to the stables and left his horse there. He ran up towards the place. The guards stopped him wanting to know what he was doing here and what his intentions were. He was a big demon so he just pushed them aside and ran towards the throne room. Seeing that it was under construction he started yelling. “Alcid! Alcid! Alcid, where are you?”
Alcid heard the commotion and ran down the stairs from her room. She walked over to the throne room and saw a big demon standing there looking at her. Alcid looked at him confused as he ran towards her and hugged her tightly. “Oh, Alcid. I thought I would never see you again. I’m so happy that you’re alive.” He said.
“Ahm… Can you please let me go and tell me who you are?” Alcid said.
The demon let her go and still holding her by the shoulders he said. “ I’m Sigurd, I was your father’s best friend. I was crushed when you went missing and when they murdered your father and mother. But when I saw you on that screen, two weeks ago, I rushed to get here, to see you.” Sigurd said.
“You knew my father?” Alcid asked.
“Not only knew him, but we also grew up together. His nanny was my mother and we spent each day together.” Sigurd said.
“Could you tell me about my parents?” Alcid asked.
“Absolutely. I can tell you right now that they would be proud of you.” Sigurd said.
“You must be hungry and thirsty after your trip. Let’s go to the kitchen and you can tell me about my parents.” Alcid said.
“You said the magic word, lead the way.” Sigurd said.
They sat in the kitchen, eating and drinking. Sigurd told Alcid stories about her father and about how he met her mother and funny stories about his friendship with her father. They talked almost all night, but at one point Sigurd felt tired and they called it a day. The next few days Alcid enjoyed Sigurd stories and one day she asked him. “Were you here when they attacked my parents?”
“No. I was on a mission to help a village. Maybe if I was here that wouldn’t have happened.” Sigurd said.
“Do you know who was here and who held a grudge against my parents?” Alcid asked.
“Everyone liked your parents. Your father wanted to ban killing mortals because, when you were born, he didn’t want to see you with the blood of mortals on your hands. But I don’t think that the ban was the real reason your parents were murdered.” Sigurd said.
“Why?” Alcid asked.
Did you look at your family tree? Sigurd asked.
“I did. It’s huge.” Alcid said.
“Let’s go see it.” Sigurd said.
“Can I ask a friend to come with us?” Alcid asked.
“Yeah, sure.” Sigurd said.
Alcid called Vannal to join them and they headed to Alcid’s room. They opened the map of the royal family tree on the floor of the room, Sigurd pointed at Alcid’s grandparents and said. “This were the king and queen before your parents. As you can see here they had two children, your father and an older son Roknin.”
“Why is his picture gray?” Alcid asked.
“I’ll get to that. Roknin had a son Ulrahr. This is him here. When your grandparents died the new king would have been Roknin and then Ulrahr, but… Roknin died and that made the second son, your father heir to the throne. That’s why Roknin’s picture is gray.” Sigurd said.
“But Ulrahr is still alive and probably angry that he’ll never be a king.” Alcid said.
“He could be a king if he killed your parents and you. And I think he did that but he didn’t kill you, so he still can’t be the king.” Sigurd said.
“What do you mean can’t be king? What if I never found out I was the heir to the throne?” Alcid asked.
“The royal crowns of the king and queen are magical. If the true king or queen doesn’t wear them, they look like they are made out of stone. However, if the real king or queen wears them then they are gold. He probably tried the king’s crown and it remained looking like stone.” Sigurd said. “Be careful, he now knows where you are and he may try to kill you to get to the throne.”
“I will, thank you for the warning, but I’m not that easy to kill.” Alcid said with a smile.
“Yeah, I saw your stunt with the mortal eating demon. Impressive, really impressive.” Sigurd said.
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Chapter 6. The crown
One night Alcid just went to bed. A few moments after she heard a squeaking noise and saw that the window was opened. In the corner of her eye, she saw something move, lifted her hand in the air and said. “I saw you. Whoever you are, you are not going to have a fun time here.”
The shadow jumped on her bed and yelled “Booo!” Alcid, startled, screamed and almost fell out of bed. Then she heard a familiar laugh and said. “Kheba! Are you insane? My heart skipped a beat.”
A dozen guards entered the room but Alcid told them that everything was all right, that her high school friend just started her and she sent them away. The guards, confused, left Alcid’s room.
Alcid hugged Kheba and said. “Look at you. You got your powers! You are a Krampus now.”
“Yes, my uncle is still teaching me but look at my horns. Aren’t they beautiful?” Kheba asked.
“Yes. And you are not white anymore. You look stunning.” Alcid said.
“This year I’ll go with my uncle to the mortal world to see what a Krampus does there, but next year I’m going alone. Next year I’ll be a real Krampus.” Kheba said with pride.
“I’m so happy for you. But don’t miss my coronation this year.” Alcid said.
“I won’t. I promise.” Kheba said.
“Oh, no you don’t. Show me the fingers, toes and the tale and then promise.” Alcid said.
Kheba did as Alcid said and they laughed. Kheba had to go but she sad that she’ll come back and visit when she had time.
Alcid spent the next week with Vannal gathering information out of people. They needed to know where Ulrahr was hiding and Vannal’s skills came in handy here. They found out that he was in the city and probably had spies in the palace. That was all they needed. They returned to the palace and went to the throne room.
First, they summoned the staff members to the throne room. They told them to wait at the beginning of the room and one by one called them in front of the thrones. They asked each of them if they knew where Ulrahr was. Vannal read them and dismissed those that weren’t lying. After about fifty staff members, Vannal signaled Alcid that the staff member in front of her was lying.
“Why are you lying to me?” Alcid asked.
“I’m not lying. I don’t know where he is.” The staff member said.
“Then what are you lying about?” Alcid asked.
“Nothing, I swear.” The staff member said and started to sweat.
Alcid put her thumb on his shoulder, released a small amount of acid. The staff member screamed in pain. She said. “Don’t make me repeat myself because I will repeat this too.”
“Alright. He pays me to give him information about you. We always meat at the small square near the fountain with demons eating a mortal.” The staff member said.
“When does he expect new information?” Alcid asked.
“Tomorrow.” The staff member said.
“Good, you will guide us there and act like nothing is happening. If you so much as twitch the wrong way or say something to him Ill dissolve all your bones with my acid. Do you understand?” Alcid said and the staff member nodded.
The next day Alcid and Vannal followed the staff member and saw him talking to Ulrahr. When they were done talking, Alcid and Vannal continued to follow Ulrahr all the way to a house. They looked through the windows and saw him throw his jacket on a chair and sit go in the kitchen. He started to act out, throw things, smash plates and scream angrily. When he calmed down, he sat in a chair at the table with his head in his palms. Alcid and Vannal snuck into his house, Vannal grabbed his hands and threw him on the floor, still holding his hands. Alcid took some rope and they tied his hands and feet.
Alcid put her hand over his mouth and said. “You know what I can do with my hands. If you scream it will be the last sound you will ever make. We have some questions for you and with each question, you don’t answer you lose a finger. Every time you lie, you lose a toe. Do you understand?”
Ulrahr looked at her full of rage but nodded. Alcid removed her hand off his mouth, sat in front of him and said. “Were you at the palace when my parents were killed?”
“No.” Ulrahr said.
“He’s telling the truth.” Vannal said.
“Did you kill my parents and try to kill me to become a king.” Alcid asked.
Ulrahr looked at a calm face and said. “No, I did not kill your parents.”
“He’s telling the truth.” Vannal said.
“Yeah, he is. The mortal eating demon killed my parents. So let’s rephrase the question. Did you come up with a plan to kill my parents and me and put it in motion to become a king?” Alcid asked.
Ulrahr looked at her with hatred in his eyes and said. “No.”
“He’s lying.” Vannal said.
“Ok. One toe less it is.” Alcid said and dropped a few drops of acid on one of Ulrahr’s toes. Ulrahr screamed in pain as his toe dissolved.
“Alright. I made a plan to kill you and your family but they took you away and my plan failed.” Ulrahr said through his teeth.
“Do you plan to kill me now?” Alcid asked.
Ulrahr looked at her angrily but didn’t say anything.
“Do you really hate your fingers that much?” Alcid asked.
Ulrahr leaned forward, looked into her eyes and said. “I dream of it every day.” Then he spat in her face.
“Vannal, I think we are done here. Ulrahr I’m sorry you’re so obsessed with being a king. It’s nothing special. I liked my life more when I was just a simple farm girl. I hope that in your next life you get what you want.” Alcid said, put her hand on his head and let acid run down his body until there was nothing left of him.
When the renovation of the palace was completed and the palace shone in its new glory Alcid decided that it was time for the crowning ceremony. She scheduled the date and invited the most important demons, but she also left the palace doors open to anyone who wanted to come. The day before the ceremony Alcid took Vannal to the roof of the palace. It was the best spot to look at the red moon. She loved to spend time here.
“Why did you bring me here?” Vannal asked.
“To give you something.” Alcid responded. Alcid liked Vannal. He sometimes acted like a fool but most of the time he was serious and composed. The thing she liked most about him was that he was smart and very perceptive, He had black four horns, two on each side of his head, coming from his temples and going to the back of his head. He had black fur all over his body with intricate white pattern starting from the corner of his eyes, down the side of his face to his shoulders, arms and torso. He also had short hair that made him look like a mad scientist sometimes.
“What?” Vannal asked.
“You’re smart. Figure it out.” Alcid said looking at him with a smile.
“A push off the roof?” Vannal asked.
Alcid laughed and said. “No. I’m not goanna kill you. I want to give you this.” Alcid took out a golden ring decorated with royal symbols.
“Why are you giving me this? This is a king’s ring?” Vannal asked.
“Because I like you, I admire you, you’re funny, smart, cute and I don’t want the throne next to me to be empty.” Alcid said.
“You’re asking me to marry you and be the king?” Vannal asked and Alcid kissed him.
“Yes I am. So what do you say?” Alcid said.
“Yes.” Vannal said.
On the day of the crowning ceremony, both thrones were occupied.————————————————–
I really don't know where I got the inspiration for this story. I just woke up one day and started writing it.
I didn't use any movies, books or series for inspiration the story is my original work.
This is just the result of my weird imagination and brain telling me what to write. I hope you liked it :)
It’s still just a story, like all of my other stores. It doesn’t have a deeper spiritual, moral or ethical meaning.
Thanks for reading :)
Every comment is welcome
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Apart from Michele lobbying for this film in the wake of the horror of Hannibal, I wouldn’t have considered 2014 disaster flick Into The Storm for a rewatch, had ITS not been on Irish free TV at the end of January. That already preempts my verdict to some degree. You see, I don’t think that it is what we call “ganz großes Kino” in German [great cinema]. To stay with the metaphor, it’s probably more along the lines of “ganz großes Damentennis” [great women’s tennis]. Ok, those are in-jokes for those who can speak German. Very bad form, Guylty, very bad! What it means is: ITS is not a triumph of early 21st century cinema. And this is why:
Recap
It’s an ordinary day in Silverton, Ohio, where single-parent assistant principal Gary Fuller herds his teenage sons Trey and Donnie to school. Trey is documenting the day with his camcorder; Donnie, the elder of the two, is pissed off with his dad. Daddy Gary at the same time is distracted by the preparations for the afternoon’s graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, a motley crew of ‘storm chasers’ have come into the area because they expect a strong hurricane to landfall. And it does – but it’s the mother of all hurricanes, a monster storm that wreaks havoc in Silverton, scatters the graduation, and, worst of all, traps Donnie Fuller together with love interest Kaitlyn in a disused mill where they nearly drown – if it hadn’t been for Daddy Fuller, the quirky brother, and some unexpected help from the storm chasers. But all’s well that ends well: daddy comes to rescue, the youngsters are saved at the last minute, the nasty career-storm chaser gets his comeuppance but simultaneously redeems himself, and the Fuller lads are one happy family again.
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So, we’ve got the ingredients for a regular summer blockbuster here: (natural) disaster with opportunity for big time CAD, vaguely topical issue (global warming), family dynamics (dad vs son), small little love story (Donnie & Kat, Gary & meteorologist Allison), nasty slave-driving boss getting what he deserves, single-parent mother separated from her child because of work, two country-bumpkin eejits for light relief, major, nail-biting drama and a happy ending. Maybe some of what is wrong with the film is already visible in that list: There is too much in it, and it doesn’t *quite* know what it wants to be. It takes on too many things, and instead of just being content with being a two-dimensional, silly disaster movie along the lines of Sharknado, it wants to take itself seriously, attempting “issues” in order to attract viewers. The strength of disaster movies is usually the special effects or the computer design of the catastrophe. So why obscure that silly fun with serious issues? Global warming as the cause of intense weather phenomena? Of course, we know that. But do I look to a summer movie to learn more about the effects of climate change? Eh, no! Just as much as I don’t want to get into a subtle subplot about single-parent issues and the strains of having to separate from your child in order to earn money. Just get on the with the disaster, throw around a few 10-ton-trucks and jumbo jets, and I’ll be happy.
Not sure where this gif comes from – credit to the maker
In that sense, the strongest scenes in the movie are the action/disaster sequences. When Gary runs across the street after his car is inadvertently crashed, and a pick-up truck smashes into the pavement about ten feet beside him, then that is great (disaster) cinema. Armitage clinging on to a car door for dear life – and to save met lady Allison from being sucked up into the tornado: predictable but essential ingredient to a disaster movie. And bonus: wet bum shot. Of Armitage! Not the woman! *That* would be sexist! A whole group of helpless humans, huddling in a massive drain for shelter against the storm, being thrown around by mother nature – great both in terms of providing scale as well as giving more opportunity for heroics. But all that sentimental crap about Allison not being with her daughter, Gary and Donnie’s relationship being strained, and Pete the storm chaser pressuring his underlings into risking their lives – unnecessary and not believable.
Cardboard Cut-outs
Not least because the characters are mere cardboard cut-outs, stereotypes, and as such just a cheap trick to offer a quick n easy way to identify or engage with one of the characters. Yet I found it strangely difficult to get invested because the characters were just too stereotypical: The hard-working father who is trying his best to bring up his sons; elder son has an issue with dad being over-protective. Young son OTOH is happy-go-lucky popular kid. Met lady has small daughter who lives with grandparents because mum has to travel for work: I should’ve latched on to these people immediately because I share one massive characteristic with them – I am a parent. (Happy mother’s day, btw.) But that one facet in a person is not enough for me to connect and engage with a character. I understand that ITS is a film that is basically telling a story in real time. So there is no opportunity for massive insights or for character set-up. Or maybe there would’ve been if the film had concentrated on fewer characters. Apart from Pete the head storm chaser, did we need Allison and the other storm chasing crew? We certainly didn’t need the town eejits, and we probably could also have done without the burgeoning love story between Donnie and Kaitlyn. If Gary Fuller was the main character, then the film should’ve focussed on him – and his heroics. That would’ve done the trick.
As for Armitage in the film: No complaints as such. His performance is solid – as it always is. You can sort of tell that this is basically his first time playing an American character. The accent doesn’t sit well with him – it just doesn’t sound right imo: When he speaks, his whole voice changes. It’s deeper in tone, and not as melodious as usual. Which is a pity, because his voice (and his vocal talents) are always an asset to any show. Otherwise he gets away with portraying the great looking, fit and healthy athletic All American dad, right down to those beautifully regular white and shiny front teeth. I do buy his act as a dad – in fact more so than his act as the vice principal of a small town high school. The man just is too gorgeous for such an existence. Casting fail *grins*.
The effects in the film work well – once you suspend your disbelief, everything is possible, and the fire tornado or the monster hurricane that bounces jumbo jets around as if they were matchbox toys, look reasonably real. The climactic storm scene – with Pete’s (literal) comeuppance – OTOH is designed straight from baroque altar pieces (see right). Towering clouds fading into white… You almost expect the eye of providence to pop up on top of the screen. And so sickly sweet with its bright clouds and shining light and predictable that it spoils the otherwise hair-raising disaster porn.
For me, the greatest regret of the film is that its concept obviously changed at some point. The initial idea of basing the majority of the film on “found footage” – was actually a great idea, both in terms of aesthetics as well as story telling. But that concept eventually is thrown out of the window even though little brother Trey, who executes the concept at the beginning of the film by shooting a ‘time capsule project’, continues to carry the camera with him. From the middle of the film found footage is not happening anymore – which makes the film strangely asymmetrical. One wonders whether the film was significantly reshot after screen testing? There definitely were reshoots, as can be seen as early as the first scene of the film when Gary’s hair is definitely shorter than a scene later…
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Miraculous hair growth. Well, RA has mentioned before that he has won prizes for growing his beard faster than anyone else… Looks as if the Armitagean follicles are stuff of legend and miracle!
Final verdict
Unfortunately, the second time ‘round, the film doesn’t improve. When I watched it in the cinema – summer evening, teenage son with me, bag of pop corn at the ready – it really did what it set out to do: It was a meaningless summer flick, more aimed at the boys than the girls, easily whiling away 89 minutes with lots of rain, thunder, assorted farm equipment flying through the air and the occasional jumbo jet twirling across the airport concourse. Four and a half years later, the film hasn’t exactly become a cult classic. And it’s easy to see why: It’s neither excruciatingly bad, nor exquisitely good. Maybe the audience wants to see even more extreme effects – or the opposite is true and in light of global warming the audience *doesn’t* want to be reminded of the havoc that the climate can play with us. And without any particularly exciting human interest story in the film, ITS has been laid to rest in the mid-week movie graveyard. That’s not what Richard Armitage deserves – who gives his best as he always does. Maybe all it was for him, was an elaborate screen test. He certainly comes across well. And at least he has ticked another genre off his list.
What about you? What do you think about the film? Comment below or write a post on your blog and link back to me so we can discuss!
PS: April is coming! And we need a new re-watch. Suggestions?
Re-Watching Into The Storm – Not Much of a Twist Apart from Michele lobbying for this film in the wake of the horror of Hannibal, I wouldn’t have considered 2014 disaster flick…
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Monster College Part 3
Rating PG, warnings mentions of underage drinking (not portrayed positively), and prescription medications (used as prescribed).
Characters: Deuce Gorgon, Jackson Jekyll, Operetta, Cleo de Nile, Invisi-Billy, Frankie Stein, Robecca Steam, and Toralei Stripes
After convincing Jackson to come out from hiding, Deuce decided to go back to his dorm room to meet his overly clingy girlfriend, Cleo de Nile. She insisted on spending every free moment with him.
The mummy princess laid sprawled on her back on Deuce’s bed. “We are totally going to Operetta’s party tonight, and then we need to have to throw one of our own,” Cleo told her boyfriend.
Deuce sighed, “Things are different now. I am going to have a lot of homework for my culinary arts degree. I also am going to have bi-weekly labs I need to be prepared for, and I still want to play basketball with Clawd and Heath sometimes, so I won’t always be able to be at your beck and call,” the gorgon boy explained.
“But Deuce,” the mummy princess cried, “we always do everything together.”
“Not everything,” Deuce countered.
“You know what I mean,” Cleo looked like she was about to throw one of her famous royal hissy fits.
Before Cleo could escalate, Jackson burst in through the door. Catching both Cleo and Deuce by surprise. Deuce turned towards Jackson and whispered, “Thanks, I owe you bro,”
The nerdy human boy shrugged his shoulders and sat down at his desk, he began to pull out the note books where he had written down all his homework.
“You’re just going to let him sit there, while we are in here?” Cleo asked Deuce with disgust.
“Well it’s his room too,” Deuce explained, “I’ve been thinking Cleo, it might be best if we have some space from each other.”
Cleo got a dumbfounded expression on her face. “I give you space,” Cleo was horrified that her boyfriend would make such a statement. “I always give you space,”
Deuce clicked his tongue, “No you don’t, when we were in high school you would barely let me leave to go to the men’s bathroom.” Deuce knew he wasn’t going to win this, but he could make it sound less bad. “I’m not breaking up with you, I’ll even go to Operetta’s party with you. I just can’t spend all my time with you,” the gorgon boy explained. The look Cleo got on her face suggested that she might have actually understood him.
* * *
“I didn’t realize you were throwing a party,” Invisi-Billy admitted.
“Well, Johnny and I thought it would a clawsome way to start the school year before we hit the grind. You can invite Scarah, she’s still your huckleberry, ain’t she,” Operetta shot Billy a sassy glance.
“Um, yes. I just don’t know if this kind of party is really her thing.” The disappearing boy admitted.
“You don’t have to worry. It’s not some crazy party, just some cool music played by Johnny and me and some pizza and soda pop. There absolutely will not be any booze, everyone but Johnny and Valentine are underage. I may not like rules, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my days doing the jail house rock.” The Phantom’s daughter gave Billy a great big smile as she started to walk away she called out one more thing with a laugh, “Be there or be square,”
Back at the dorm Deuce and Cleo were helping Jackson decide what to wear to Operetta’s party in hopes of impressing Frankie. “Jackson, why are all your clothes almost the same,” the mummy princess said with disgust in her voice. Jackson awkwardly shrugged his shoulders. Cleo pulled a pair of blue plaid shorts and a yellow polo shirt from Jackson’s dresser, “These will be prefect. Put them on a see how they look,” Cleo ordered the human boy.
“Just don’t look while I change,” Jackson snapped.
Jackson felt awkward in the clothes, “I look stupid,” he lamented.
“You look amazing,” Cleo gushed, “now we just need to slick back all your out of control hair.” The mummy princess sprayed some sort of gel like substance in Jacksons black hair with yellow tips that were caused by a lab accident. She pulled hard with a comb until his hair finally slicked down. “Do you have any contacts?” she asked him,
Jackson sighed, “No, my eyes are to sensitive for that. But I do have prescription sunglasses,” the nerdy human boy offered.
“It’s at night and you don’t have Deuce’s petrifying ability, stick with the regular glasses. I’ll just put some of this magical acne cream invented by Great Uncle Tut. Then you will perfect. Frankie will be so impressed.”
Meanwhile, Invisi-Billy sat in his room. Heath was playing Graveyard Dash 5 on his x-box. Robecca Steam sat next to Billy on his bed. Robecca was a steampunk robot who had been built in Victorian England, though she was technically really old she was young at heart and an amazing listener.
“I don’t know how to tell Scarah that I want to change my major?” the invisible boy asked his robotic friend, “She was so excited about me wanting to become a doctor. I don’t know how my parents will feel about it either.” A small tear rolled down Billy’s pale face.
“If they truly love you, they will support you in whatever you choose to do educationally.” Robecca said in her in her charming British accent.
“Thank you,” Billy said with a smile, “you are a great listener.”
* * *
Operetta’s party at the student union was up to an awesome start. She was playing a gentle Rockabilly tune on her bass guitar, and Johnny Spirit accompanied her on his fiddle. The Rockabilly phantom and the ghostly greaser were taking care to not play there music too loud for Jackson’s sake. Cleo and Deuce, Lagoona and Gil were dancing in pairs to the music. Billy and Scarah were talking to each other by the food table, and Heath was trying to flirt awkwardly with Abbey Bominable.
While all this was going on, Jackson sat by himself away from the stage. Frankie, the daughter of Frankenstein’s monster, spied him right away. She was wearing a blue plaid print party dress with a yellow sweater. Frankie’s black and white hair was styled in away that Jackson found beautiful. “What are you wearing?” she asked with a laugh.
Jackson gave a small chuckle, “Cleo chose this outfit.”
“It shows. It looks a bit flashy for you,” the stitched together girl explained.
“You don’t like it?” Jackson asked with a tone of concern in his voice.
“I do like it, I love anything you wear, because I love you,” Frankie explained.
“Have you been taking your anxiety medication? You’ve seen a bit more high-strung than normal.” The Frankenstein girl explained.
“I’ve been taking it as prescribed” Jackson explained, “I’m just having a difficult time adjusting to the changes of going away for college for the first time.”
Frankie looked at Jackson sympathetically, she reached out and gently touched his hand, “We’ll get through this together”.
A young male vampire walked up to the stage. His was dressed in black dress coat, crimson waist coat, paired with a white ruffle shirt accented with gold jewelry, all trademarks of Valentine, a once suiter of Draculaura who had once liked to collect broken hearts. “I would like to request a song,” he called out in his Southern accent.
“Ok, sugar plum, but me and Johnny here have one more in our line up first,” Operetta called out.
The Rockabilly phantom and the ghostly greaser started to play an upbeat toon. “Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans, way back in the woods among the evergreens, There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood, And lived a country boy named Johnny B Goode,” Operetta and Johnny Spirit sang together, “ he never learned to read or write to well but he could play a guitar like ringing a bell, Go Johnny Go, Go Joh—” a loud noise interrupted the song.
It sounded almost like gunshots at first but then became it was terrible hip-hop music being blasted through a boombox. “You didn’t think you could have a party and not invite me,” Toralei the catty and conceited orange were-cat meowed.
Operetta grew mad, “I didn’t invite you because you remind me of a word that begins a “B” and rhymes with “hitch”, you are selfish and think it’s fun to ruin things that are important to other people.” The Rockabilly phantom was getting steamed, her light lilac color face started to turn red.
“But Operetta,” Toralei said coyishly, “ I don’t think only of myself. That’s why I had Manny bring the booze.”
A look of horror came over the faces of many of the monsters at the party. Before anyone could say anything, the large Minotaur burst in with a keg over each shoulder, followed by some fraternity goons carrying other cases of alcoholic beverages.
“Please take your booze and leave,” Robecca demanded. But unfortunately, her voice was drowned out by the goons yelling, and the booming hip-hop music.
“Please stop!!!” Jackson yelled out in panic as he tried to cover his ears, but it was no use. He had already started to transform.
tags @queenofworry
#monster high fanfiction#monster high#my fanfiction#monster college#operetta#deuce gorgon#cleo de nile#johnny spirit#jackson jekyll#frankie stein#robecca steam#invisi billy#mh fandom#monster high doll#holt hyde
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Violins and NOT VIOLAS
Apparently I’m the kind of gay disaster who gives herself asthma attacks walking to university while very, very excited about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and all the cats he had (he did have a lot of pets, but not just cats; dogs and birds also, as far as I know, maybe others, too), but apparently, I'm also going to be an absolute fool on top of that, and not wait until I've finished my current WIP, She Has No Name, or drafted Violins and Violets to completion, before I go off on one about all the very fun ideas I have for expanding the world around the novel. As my housemate and my sister will confirm, I spent all of yesterday yelling about this.
OK.
OK, so, since I took my Ventolin like a good and responsible little sickie (which I'm mentioning so that my Year Abroad coordinator will not bar me from going to France next year on grounds that I technically might die (which I probably won't)), I'm alive to chuck a bunch of coffee down my throat and get started on the very fun list of things I am going to talk about in the Hans-centric book.
Putting a “Read More” here because it gets long. Strap yourselves in, pals.
For a start, although it's only a working title, I do know that I want all the books in this collection to be titled in the same or at least in a similar format (like "Violins and Violets", "something musical" and "something gay”), I’m going to be calling this one, at the very least for the time being, Violins and not Violas, because (to quote TwoSetViolin, a big inspiration for this series and a big reason I procrastinate instead of a) writing and b) practicing) violas are shit.
But quite honestly, it is going to revolve, at least partially, around Hans Schmidt’s open dislike of violas and violists (somewhat akin but less personally-motivated than his sister’s distrust of oboists (100% justified after the Herr Havelka issue (which I definitely didn’t just put into the story to justify flexing on the oboe (the viola of the woodwind section (I play clarinet (occasionally (God, so many brackets))))))), and his quest to “invent a viola that isn’t shit” (his words, not mine).
Because anything is possible in fiction.
So, Hans Schmidt (as I recently realised that we never actually see him in Violins and Violets, and when he went off on his tour of Europe, before the events of the book, he said goodbye to his sister for the last time; they never see each other again) is going to be the star of Violins and not Violas.
He’s going to learn to make instruments (violins first), which is a skill he’s going to have to learn (and which I’m going to have to work into his letters to Käthe, which I will have to curate so, so carefully from now on for the sake of continuity), so that will involve a friendship with the person who teaches him this, and then he’s going to have lots and lots of fun inventing instruments for people (and naming his favourite ones after his best friends), and passing the skill on to others (Mozart would not want music to be the exclusive realm of the elite and nor does Hans Schmidt). Hence his life-work being “make an unshit viola” (again, his words, not mine).
My favourite aro-ace violinist legend is going to be exceedingly flamboyant in his dress, look rapper-dapper a.f. all the time (think 18th century Freddie Mercury), and I mean Rapper-Dapper A.F. All The Time. This is a man who makes quite a bit of money as a) a musician by Royal Appointment at the Court of the English King, and b) selling the very interesting and cool musical instruments that he has made/invented. He has the means to wear satin nightshirts, wigs dyed every colour of the rainbow, and velvet jackets embroidered very lavishly by none other than himself (another skill he learns from a customer who is very grateful for her violin), and he’s damn well going to use them. He’s not just a top-of-the league musician. He’s a fashion icon and he’s not going to let anyone forget it.
As I say, Mozart had a lot of pets of lots of kinds, but Hans is going to have so many cats. It starts when people start giving him flowers after his performances at court, and the flowers smell very lovely and attract lots of cats that the courtiers keep as pets (who have the added benefit of chasing away the mice), and Hans fairly quickly makes friends with the cats, too, and over time just gets followed around by an increasingly massive number of cats. I’m talking fifty and more. And you bet he knows all their names, and gets cats of his own, and sits in his workshop surrounded by all these lovely cats who are very soft and lovely, and definitely don’t fight to be the ones to sit on his shoulders. It’s going to be so good.
The story’s going to start a little before Violins and Violets, sometime prior to Hans’ departure from Salzburg (and therefore before his sister, Katharina, goes to Prague) for his European tour. I’m thinking it’ll still start in 1785, just like Violins and Violets, but earlier that same year, when Hans is 15 and Katharina 19 (Violins and Violets starts on her 20th birthday). That gives me some time to develop their relationship as siblings before he leaves, and to pay more attention to their last goodbye.
However, I’m going to end this book long before I end Violins and Violets (1815), because I don’t want to focus on Hans’ death. I want this to be a story about his life instead, because there aren’t enough happy Queer people in historical fiction. Also because I cried enough last time I wrote his death. And the time before. I’m not doing that again.
I’m not yet sure exactly when I will end the story, because I’m not exactly sure of what structure this plot is going to follow, but... uh... I just looked it up in my plans... and Hans dies from typhus in 1793, so I’m going to have to make the story fit into only 8 years. Luckily, he’s a prodigy of music, so I think it’s reasonable to write him as a fast learner; that would let him (with his extremely creative mind, one of the few that can match Katharina’s) pick up the skill of violin-building quickly, coming up with ideas for his own inventions and then leaving those as his legacy as much as his music. Think Sax, but with less ridiculousness. As I say, I’m going to have to be careful about incorporating his story into Katharina’s, particularly where the letters they exchange are concerned. There’s no reason for him to keep inventing musical instruments a secret, so I can’t fall back on that as an excuse (although it has crossed my mind. Maybe he has to invent his unshit viola in a graveyard, under cover of darkness).
#writeblr#blog#violins and not violas#hans schmidt#mozart#wolfgang amadeus mozart#violin#twoset violin#fiction#original fiction#writing process#writer's life#student#university life#student life#violinist#freddie mercury#cat#cats#cat lover#musician#musicians#violas are shit#ling ling 40 hours#aro characters#ace characters
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Jay’s Season 14 Episode Chat
Episode 5
Enjoy my random thoughts!
~ Excuse me, what is this girl doing alone? I love her but WHY IS THERE NO ADULT WITH HER SHE’S SMALL AND FRAGILE
~ Oooooooklahoma, where this girl just runs off on her ooooown
~ I love a nice field trip to a graveyard, someone is coming for Ms. Frizzle’s career
~ Vlogging hunters, I LOVE THIS. Also me if I was a hunter 😂
~ I think I’m in love with Maggie. Can we get some nice JayxMaggie fics please? 😂
~ MAGGIE MY WIFE NOOOO! Excuse me, whoever just dared to put their hands on her, DON’T HURT HER OR I SWEAR-
~ TEACHER SAM UM YES PLEASE
~ Fuuuuuuuuck he looks good
~ Sam: “Let’s get to work.” Me: *breaks out into song* “LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS-”
~ SAM’S LITTLE CUP I’M CRYING 😂 Is it just him being a giant of a human or is that cup tiny I NEED ANSWERS
~ Sam with a whistle GIMME
~ Sam creating hunter check-ins is giving me LIFE. HE’S. A. SMART. BEAN.
~ Hey Dean sass, ima need you to tone yourself down
~ CAS AND JACK ARE ON A NICE FATHER/SON HUNTING TRIP TOGETHER THIS IS WHAT THE SHOW NEEDS AND I SUPPORT IT 100%
~ Sam tippity tappin’ away (have I mentioned I love this man?)
~ Dean’s reaction to this guy in the cemetery is a mood
~ I loooove this guy meeting them at the house 😂
~ OK BOBBY AND MARY I SEE YOU LOOKIN’ LIKE MICHAEL AND CAS, WHAT CHA TRYING TO SAY, HUH? WRITERS, ANYONE? ANSWERS?
~ BOBBY SASS YES WE NEED THIS
~ Bobby said idjits I REPEAT BOBBY SAID IDJITS
~ Ok but Maggie shouldn’t have been out there alone in the first place, just saying
~ Jared has forever made “Milk Run” funny (he said stuff at a con) and I can’t stop giggling at Bobby’s line
~ Woah woah, Bobby, I’m gonna need you to stop yelling at my Sammy or I will somehow throw you back into the AU myself
~ Bobby: “She wasn’t ready!” My mind:
~ “A real leader would’ve seen that a mile away.” THE FUCK BOBBY?? HOW DARE YOU? SAM IS A REAL LEADER, HE’S DOING HIS BEST, AND HE’S DOING AN AMAZING JOB. YES OF COURSE MAGGIE SHOULD’VE NEVER BEEN ON HER OWN, BUT DON’T BLAME SAM FOR HER GETTING TAKEN BY THE MONSTER. AND DON’T SAY HE ISN’T A REAL LEADER. (I actually got so mad at this part 😂 no one says stuff like that to my boy and gets away with it)
~ YES MARY, THANK YOU!! LISTEN TO MAMA WINCHESTER!
~ No Sammy, Bobby isn’t right, this isn’t your fault, DON’T PUT YOURSELF DOWN
~ I mean, I agree Mary, BUT, he was honestly born to be hooked on demon blood and use his powers (you know, THE ONES THE SHOW JUST CASUALLY FORGETS) for not so great things BUT OK 😂
~ Welcome to the show/family, no one wants to talk about anything
~ OH HI JOHN NICE FOR THEM TO MENTION YOU 😂 (i still don’t like you a ton but hello)
~ MARY NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOU TO “PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE”, FOCUS ON MICHAEL AND THE OTHER EVILS OF THE WORLD BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT
~ I LOVE MARY AND SAM BONDING MOMENTS, CAN WE HAVE MORE IN FUTURE EPISODES PLEASE AND THANK YOU
~ “You think I was too hard on your brother back there.” Me:
~ I need a scene where Dean goes off on Bobby for yelling at his baby brother, ANYONE ELSE WITH ME?
~ Dean, so help me, if you insult the Sammy beard ONE MORE TIME
~ Aw Sam respecting his mother and what she wants LOOK AT HIM BEING AN ADORABLE BABY
~ Creepy abandoned shed, great
~ BOBBY WTF DON’T RUN OFF ON YOUR OWN HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING??
~ I love when monsters turn into chalk dust
~ “What are you doing in my house?” WHY WASN’T THAT THE FIRST QUESTION OUT OF YOUR MOUTH?
~ How tf did you get cleaned up so quickly and easily, Dean 😂
~ Oh sweetie, anything (besides Destiel apparently *COUGH*) is possible in this universe
~ “I’m not really up for a heart-to-heart.” It’s ok, Dean never is either
~ This girl 😂 “I don’t want to talk about what’s going on.....but here’s the entire story-”
~ I’M SO PROUD OF DEAN BEING A GREAT LISTENER AND GIVING ADVICE
~ Dean: *gives this speech about letting the past go and stuff* Girl: “Is that what you do?” Me: “NO HE BOTTLES UP HIS FEELINGS AND REFUSES TO TALK ABOUT ANYTHING GOING ON-”
~ Ok wait I’m sorry, was Sam just waiting for them to finish talking so he could walk down the hall? 😂 What took him so long?
~ What kind of flashlight has an on/off switch on the bottom?
~ Yay, my husband found my wife 😂
~ SAM YOU GOT THE CHALK DUST TOO
~ Aw no Maggie this isn’t your fault at all, don’t blame yourself
~ WHAT ARE YOU DOING BOBBY
~ I love when AU!Bobby has a kid
~ Oh that’s a lil bit of a stab
~ MARY TO THE RESCUE
~ FFS, WHY DOES NO ONE BACK UP WHEN SOMEONE IS WALKING TOWARDS THEM? IF THEY DID, THEY WOULDN’T GET HIT. THESE CHARACTERS HAVE LEARNED NOTHING 😂
~ Close your everything, he’s gonna turn into cha- and there he goes
~ Dean, you motherfucker, you could’ve used any line to get her out of the room, AND YOU CHOSE “Could you go make me a sandwich?” YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE MOST SEXIST LINES OUT THERE 😂 Writers, wtf??
~ YES QUEEN, GET THAT SASS
~ Wait a second, if the djinn is taking blood from this guy, wouldn’t people notice the bags filling up instead of going down?? AM I THE ONLY ONE THINKING ABOUT THIS? 😂
~ Oh Michael, you little fu-
~ Aww Maggie *hugs*
~ WTF HAPPENED WITH THE DJINN, WHY DID HE FREAK OUT WHEN HE WAS DOING HIS THING TO DEAN, WHY DID DEAN GET A BURST OF ENERGY AND BEAT THIS GUY SUDDENLY? I’M TELLING YOU, MICHAEL ISN’T GONE
~ Ok, so we know now that Michael set up traps for everyone. AWESOME
~ AW THEY’RE ALL SO HAPPY TO SEE MAGGIE, I’M SCREAMING, I LOVE THIS
~ YES DEAN GIVE YOUR BROTHER THE PRAISE HE DESERVES
~ I’m still mad at Bobby for yelling at Sam, but I want to hug him right now. I feel so bad for him
~ SHE DID LEARN FROM THE BEST, YES
~ I almost had a heart attack at “Boys, we need to talk.” I THOUGHT THERE WAS GONNA BE A FULL ON RELATIONSHIP CONFESSION
~ DONNA YAY HI MOM, also of course she has a garden gnome 😂 I love her so much
~ THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH SAM, BOBBY
~ Sam’s lil smile *collapses*
~ MARY STEPPING BACK INTO THAT MOM ROLE IS SO NICE AND I APPRECIATE TF OUT OF THIS
~ GARTH I MISS YOU MY SWEET BOY
~ Lol yes buddy system, I support this 😂
~ WHO WAS SAM CALLING
~”Traps for hunters. Friggin’ awesome.” My thoughts exactly
~ “From what I- from what we- ....from what he did.” THAT LINE RIGHT THERE IS SO IMPORTANT! Dean is finally accepting that what Michael (not Dean, not Michael AND Dean, but just Michael) did wasn’t him and he isn’t to blame at all. This was a needed line, and I appreciate the writers for putting that in. It means SO MUCH
~ Dean can’t get a fuckin’ break, poor baby. CAN WE GIVE DEAN A WELL DESERVED BREAK?
~ Yeah, let’s beat this son of a bitch (even though I actually really like Michael 😂)
Alright, well, that’s the episode chat! I really liked this episode a ton. I miss Cas and Jack, but they’re off together, so that’s nice. WE GET CHARLIE NEXT EPISODE, WHICH I’M SO EXCITED FOR! I’ve missed my AU wife. I hope we get Rowena back soon. Ketch too (I guess 😂)
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