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jq37 · 4 years

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 1

There Is Strength in Sweetness

Much like the years, the seasons of D20 start coming and they don’t stop coming. Fantasy High: Sophomore Year is barely in the record books and we’re already jumping into our new season--the Game of Thrones/Candyland mashup: A Crown of Candy!

If y’all have been with me since Sophomore Year then you know that I did very in depth recaps of every episode with a very specific format but I’m gonna try something new for this season.

The format might change a little between episodes as I figure out what works best so bear with me but the plan is to do more highlights and opinions than a blow by blow. But, like, we’ll see what happens.

So, anyway, saddle up your Meep and let’s visit Candia--one of the six kingdoms of the land of Calorum (aka: a fridge. We see you Brennan, it’s a fridge). Twenty years ago, the Ravening Wars wreaked havoc but they’re currently in a time of peace which (mostly) everybody is psyched about.

Meet the Family

This is not a new observation but, while most seasons of Fantasy High focus on found family, this season is all about family-family, specifically, the royal family of Candia and their associates.

We’re first introduced to Murph’s character--Sir Theobald Gumbar (Level 3 Eldritch Knight)--who is the a huge, golden-armored, gummy bear, leader of the Tartguard, protector of the royal family, and the logical endpoint of Murph’s lawful good predilections. Sir Theo is, of course, on time with bells on for the big Saint’s Day/Coming of Age birthday party for the twin princesses of House Rocks. Unfortunately, he’s clearly never seen The Little Mermaid because when the heralds announce the princesses, they don’t show up. Frustrated, he goes to try and find them.

The first place he checks is with Zac’s character, Chancellor Lapin Cadbury (Level 3 Celestial Warlock). He is (in no particular order) the royal tutor, a chocolate bunny, an official of the main state sanctioned church of Calorum (the Bulbian Church), and a pompous ass. Oh, one more thing? He and Theobald can’t stand each other. There is nothing funnier than two very proper grown men who hate each other's guts. Sir Theo shows up to his classroom where the princesses are having a lesson--or at least they’re supposed to be. Further inspection shows that they’ve just left two straw dummies in their place. Classic.

So, we pan out to the city to meet my favorite characters so far (I absolutely play favorites but I also disclose when I’m doing it so I think I’m in the clear) the twin princesses/chaos gremlins--Jet and Ruby Rocks (both level 1 Rogues) played by Emily and Siobhan. Theo may not have seen The Little Mermaid but the twins have def seen Aladdin, because their number one pastime seems to be escaping the palace to roam the city--hilariously illustrated when they chuck a gem into a peasant's bag and his reaction is a super nonplussed, “Guess the princesses escaped again.” They’re got the Disney Princess-itis really bad because both of them feel stifled by palace life and want more--specifically, Jet wants to be a warrior and resents having been born in peacetime (especially since she’s slightly older and in line for the throne) and Ruby wants to run off and join the circus as an acrobat. They are total twin BFFs to the point that their Thieves Cant has been reskinned to Twinspeak which is a detail I love so much (and that will become unspeakably tragic if something happens to one of them Brennan).

Jet gets a letter from her secret crush Thad, an Avocado from Fructera (these are the sentences I am being forced to write this season folks) and schemes with Ruby about how they can get to Comida (the capital city) to meet him--possibly by sweet talking Theobald which is easy because he’s so thirsty for respect. Sure enough, Theobald and Lapin soon find them, following their path of destruction and the princesses are brought back to the castle.

Back at the castle, we’re introduced to Lou’s character--King Amethar Rocks (Level 3 Storm Herald Barbarian)--who is having a somber moment, surrounded by the statues of his four older sisters who died in the Ravening Wars, leading his reluctant taking of the throne. He’s interrupted by Lord Calroy (his right hand guy and a full ass talking slice of cake because Brennan is trying to break me this season but I refuse to give him the satisfaction) who lets him know that his daughters have escaped and his delighted reaction immediately lets us know which side of the family they take after.

Finally (at least wrt PCs), we meet Ally’s character--Liam Wilhelmina of House Jawbreaker (Level 2 Ranger) who is a political prisoner/ward of House Rocks and a soft, outdoorsy, mountain kid who is perpetually followed around by his pet pig--Peppermint Preston whose death will absolutely force to me to Google “Best Denny’s Parking Lots for Fistfights.” He misses his dad but not his dick brothers because Ally isn’t allowed to have a fully happy family in any season. Liam is from the disgraced House Jawbreaker and his brothers seem to expect him to try and off the King while he’s in their orbit. While he’s in the woods, looking for seeds (as one does) he finds and accidentally breaks an important looking teacup, which we’ll get back to.

The other important character we meet this episode is an NPC--Queen Caramelinda, mother of the princesses, wife of Amethar, and keeper of 100% of the impulse control of House Rocks. She’s the main disciplinarian to Jet and Ruby, the clear decision-maker in the kingdom, and the only literate one out of her and her husband. She also seems to be the only character that respects Lapin’s authority.

An Inciting Incident

So, with all our characters assembled, all that’s left is the plot hook which Caramelinda provides in the form of a personal letter from Emperor Gustavo--the head honcho of the entire realm and his old friend--to Amethar. He’s not doing well health-wise and he needs to name an heir that’s not related to him at a big tourney that he’s personally inviting Amethar to. Amethar is a little slow on the uptake but Caramelinda eventually connects to dots for him that it seems very likely that Gustavo is going to name him emperor.

Amethar is not vibing with that information at all but Caramelinda basically holds him by the ear until he reluctantly agrees to go--though he insists that Ruby and Jet also come along to keep him company. Caramelinda only agrees on the condition that Lapin goes with. She also invites Liam (who is caught off guard but game) and Sir Theo is basically going by default. Caramelinda is staying home to hold down the fort but the talking slice of cake is going because Brennan hates me and doesn’t want me to be happy.

The traveling party is chosen, the twins have been gifted with sick, inherited weapons from their aunts: Flickorice--the Twizzing Blade (Jet) and Sourscratch--the Puckering Bow (Ruby). It’s almost time to be off, but there’s still one last thing to get to before we leave the twins’ party.

Lapin, feeling the pull of something broken (told you we’d get back to it) subtly makes his way outside, but is followed by Jet and Liam. Now, if you remember, I said earlier that Lapin is an official of the Bulbian church. Which is why it’s so surprising for Jet and Liam to see him talking to the Sugarplum Fairy, a deity of the Sweetening Path--a non-sanctioned more animistic religion that really only has sway in Candia. He fixes the teacup and then she appears, telling him that he’ll need to be wary once he leaves her sphere of influence and that boldness will be required in the days to come. Lapin, who seems to be having this conversation very begrudgingly, asks if she’s asking him to do anything in an official capacity and she smiles and says that she’s not asking for her third wish(!). Then what does she want? She wants him to know that there is great risk in what he is doing, but not acting is the greater risk. The coming challenges will be great, but he must protect the royal family or all is lost. She wouldn't have used her second wish to bring him to them if that weren’t the case. They hustle back and spill this to Ruby, obvs.

Anyway, onward! The next day, the caravan is set up and--with a warning about a sugar free chocolate warlock (ominous, as sugar free chocolate always is) they’re on their way to meet their escort out of Candia. Ruby decides to do her acrobat thing and is hanging out on top of the carriage instead of inside it as she and Jet “subtly” (read:not at all) bring up the Sugarplum Fairy to Lapin to see if he cracks.

Suddenly, the caravan stops. There’s a tree felled in the path, which really only means one thing in this kind of story.

Ambush.

Ruby, outside of the carriage and unprotected, takes 16 points of damage and is fully down with a failed death save due to some unknown effect. The carriage is riddled with arrows.

Everyone rolls for initiative and that takes us into a new (sure to be recurring) segment I’m calling:

Things I’m Concerned About

I’m concerned about Jet and Ruby (and not just because I’ve been worried about Ruby for a while due to things the cast has said and because she fully *died* this episode). They have their genres so wrong. They think they’re Disney movie protagonists but they’re in Game of Thrones and they don’t know it. Being Wrong Genre Savvy is a BAD position to find yourself in. Carriage surfing shenanigans don’t fly in a world that wants you dead.

OK, Carameinda. I’m inclined to be pro-Caramelinda. Like, she’s the hardass but she needs to be because Amethar isn’t helping run the kingdom. If this was a different story, she wouldn’t give me any pause but I read Macbeth and feel some light Lady Macbeth vibes. Gonna be keeping an eye on her.

Calroy and Sir Toby (didn’t mention him, he’s a slightly lower ranked Gummi Bear guard and friends with Theo). In a story like this, I’m looking for the possible betrayals before I get blindsided and the only people who can really betray you are people who are supposedly loyal to you. Calroy had a little aside with Amethar about how he shouldn’t be the Emperor if he doesn’t want to be--which isn’t wrong but is also something someone angling to keep him off the throne for other reasons would say--and Sir Toby decided to stay behind to help hold down the fort--again, either an innocuous decision, or angling to be left alone and to his own devices.

Whatever is going on with the Sugarplum Fairy and Lapin? Do not care for that one bit. I understand that a Warlock pact is mechanically very similar to a Paladin oath and a Celestial Warlock pact is even moreso but guess what? Still don’t trust it. I know Ruby’s Arcana check said that she’s generally a chill spirit but I still don’t trust it. And getting Wishes from your follower? Weird and suspicious. What’s your game, lady?

Emperor Gustavo apparently has a daughter who is barred by law from taking the throne when he dies. That sounds like a very strong motive for *something* at some point down the line.

I’m a little concerned Jet is being catfished by this Avocado. First of all, not a sentence I thought I’d ever write. Second of all, I’m probably just being paranoid. But that feels like a great way to get a princess alone for kidnapping or shanking or something.

Update: Brennan did an AMA and, regarding the previous bullet point he said, and I quote, “You are right to be concerned!” so now I’m concerned about that too! Fun!

I’m concerned about the mechanics of how a slice of cake person works. Slice implies a full cake. Where is the rest of the cake Brennan? Where is it? And, like, Brennan said on the post-show stream that we’re making the “what do they eat?” question weirder than it actually is because we’re made of some of the stuff we eat but hey Brennan? If I could pick a flesh toned and textured apple off a tree? That would be weird, OK? And I’m sorry for everyone else who had to picture that but it had to be said since Brennan is insisting on walking us down this garden path.

I’m concerned about whatever the hell is happening with Liam. Disgraced dad, mom is a shaman of the local fringe religion (Sweetening Path, like Lapin), and his brothers want him to shank the king or something? No way this ends in smiles for everyone.

Brennan said Pyramid of Food so I’m concerned about fruit rollup mummies.

OK but more than anything, I’m concerned about the death rules of this game. Death in D&D is cheap but, in a campaign like this, it can’t be. I’m not super well versed in GoT but it’s my understanding that resurrection in that series is possible but rare. Brennan said he specifically didn’t let Ally stock certain healing spells and that’s very telling about how things are gonna be handled. I guess we’ll see in the upcoming battle episode how that works but my general thought is, I hope everyone made interesting backup characters.

Five More Things

So, my thoughts on the new characters. I love Ruby and Jet with my entire heart. Watching Emily and Siobhan roleplay sisters and enable each other and hype each other up is so fun--or it would be if I wasn’t low key bracing to lose one of them sooner rather than later. Zac playing against type and Murph playing to type are both fantastic. I want nothing more than for Theobald and Lapin to continue sniping at each other. I hope that’s the first PvP fight of D20. Amethar is a lot of fun but clearly in over his head and I’m interested to see where he’s pushed. Liam is literally just vibing. Hope he doesn’t have to commit regicide!

God, the House Rocks PCs are such a disaster family. I love it. The moment when Calroy comes in and is like, “The princesses have escaped,” and Amethar breaks into a grin and is like, “Dude, that’s so dope!” I was like OH, so it’s *all* of them, huh. But, honestly, this should have been on the “Things I’m Concerned About” list because come on. They’ve not all gonna make it. And then we’re gonna have to watch the remaining family members react to that? Oh no.

Love Ruby’s bow. I have a player in my game who also has a magic bow that produces energy arrows because, truly, who has the time to deal with the logistics of how many arrows you had left after last fight? Magic arrows. Boom, done. Next.

Getting bagged on by your Patron for not having a spell when she’s the one who gives you your spells is so funny. Also, Mending isn’t a Warlock spell which makes it even funnier.

**I’ve given myself a 3k word limit on all of these to try to put some boundaries on myself but, Lol, prize to the first who guesses closest to the first episode I break that rule.**

#a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #the royal report #listen I don't hate calroy #I hate the *implications* of calroy

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mo-mo-and-porkchop · 5 years

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Hehrlana

Vikings fan fiction

Chapter 4 (Chapter 3 here)

*I do not own any part of the Canon Vikings characters. It is simply my interpretation. I make no profit off of this.

**I do own the original characters and everything associated with them.

Tagging for updates: @kenzieam , @wilddrabble , @oddsnendsfanfics , @thoughtsmeander2tumblingblindly , @captstefanbrandt

"You can not be serious father?!" Arlen exclaimed hurt and angry. Their sister would be taken away by a heathen of all people. "He is nothing more than a pagan brute!" he growled.

"Arlen!" Ehrlana scolded.

"He can not be trusted sister," he spat firmly in reply.

Harald's anger rose with Arlen's accusations, even if he was mostly right. He was a brute. Ruthless in times of war. He even lied when necessary to further his ambitions of becoming King. But this time, however, things were different.

The Celtic Princess stirred emotions deep within that he long thought dead. His breath caught with her presence. His heart raced. His mind voided itself of everything except her. The woman, unbeknown to her, had him under her spell. He wanted Ehrlana. Yearned for her; almost as much as he had desired Elisef.

He set his utensils down and readied himself to argue his defense when they were both cut short by the King.

"Watch your tongue!" he roared before Harald could intercede.

"Father, he will surely kill her the first chance he gets," Arlen pleaded much more quietly.

"King Harald is our guest and I will not have such disrespect at my table! You and I will discuss your punishment later, but for now I suggest you leave before you lose what dignity you have left," he finished definitively.

The King resumed his meal as the growing tension seemed to fill the room. Awkwardly they sat in silence as Arlen stared his father down. The king ignored him and continued eating; his word final. His eldest son pushed himself angrily from the table and left. If he wouldn't listen then he would take care of the matter personally. He would protect his sister from the heathens with or without his father's help.

"I apologize for my son," the King began once Arlen was gone.

Although he agreed with him, it was not his place to decide Ehrlana's future; a future directly tied to the fate of their people. An alliance with Harald and the great heathen army would be beneficial for all. If his son had only controlled himself long enough he would have found the same truth.

"He is very....passionate at times," he explained as nicely as possible.

"It seems to me he is full of hatred for my kind," Harald retorted with disdain.

"He is upset over the recent attacks. One Northman is the same as another to Arlen unfortunately," he further explained, slight sorrow in his voice. "I, on the other hand, understand the benefit of our alliance." He glanced over at his daughter and gently held her hand. "Even if it means losing my daughter."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go for the last time.

"Arlen may be misguided, but he is a formidable warrior," Liam chimed in, his attenetion still on his food. He casually ate and drank as if his brother hadn't just caused a scene.

"I will handle Arlen," the King firmly, yet calmly professed.

"I would not underestimate his anger or his passion father," he warned finally looking to him.

"If he can can not control his anger or his passion, then I will handle him," Harald said finally breaking his silence. Nothing was to going stand in his way of making her his wife. Especially her ignorant brother.

Ehrlana's heart froze and her chest tightened with the threat. She could feel the truth of his words in her veins as they slowly turned to ice. Her nerves tingled and for a moment she feared Arlen was right.

"I do not doubt that," Liam replied. "My sister's safety is all that matters to me. As with Arlen. We are very protective of her," he continued.

When Harald's eyes found hers, he immediately relaxed his demeanor. He wanted her as his wife, not his enemy. His heart clenched seeing the fear in her eyes.

"Then you have no need to worry. She will be in the safest place in all of Norway," Harald offered trying to back pedal a bit.

"For your sake I hope so," her brother countered, glancing at his sister before going back to their meal.

-------

"You can still change your mind," her brother, Kieran reminded her. He glanced over his shoulder at Harald and his men as they carried the remains of their camp onto their ships. "The winters are much worse than here," he tried convincing her as he brought his attention back to her.

"You have been speaking with Arlen too much," she replied with a small laugh. "Liam will be with me until I am married. I will be fine. Do not worry," she reassured him as she hugged him goodbye. "Please try and convince Arlen of the same and take care of Siobhan," she said before giving him one last squeeze.

"You have my word, Queen," he replied with a smirk and a playful bow.

She pushed him playfully; her brother laughing in return. "I will miss you," she said with a sad sigh once their laughter died down.

"And I you," he agreed just as sorrowfully.

"We will see her again," Liam cut in, seeing Kieran's anguish. He'd done well hiding it from their sister, but he never could fool him. His brother was about to break down.

"You watch that King," he replied lowly, locking eyes with Liam. "We have to know he can be trusted with her."

"I will make sure she is safe before I return. You have my word brother," he said squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. The two brothers locked eyes and it was clear Kieran wasn't completely convinced Ehrlana should go. "My word," he reiterated with a firm squeeze, silently forcing his brother to get control of his rising anger.

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

Ehrlana watched her brothers and father at the shore as the boat pulled away. Liam beside her, his arm wrapped caringly around her shoulders. She was leaving her home behind. Sadness gripped at her heart as it slowly grew smaller. As much as she dreamt of this moment, she would miss it.

"Are you ready for this little sister?"

She sighed and leaned into him, hugging him gently. "I don't know," she replied with a small shake of her head. "But I am ready to find out."

Liam was the first to turn away from the sight. Ehrlana couldn't bring herself to do the same and watched until the shores of Ireland were out of sight. She pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders before finally turning away herself.

------

Moonlight danced along the ripples left behind as small waves crashed gently against the ship's underbelly. A gentle breeze strong enough to carry their sail blew across the seas. Harald's men were casually scattered across the longboat; some working, some sleeping. Others sang softly to themselves as they sharpened their swords. They were nearly done their trip and it had been peaceful.

"I have heard your men say the Gods are happy," Ehrlana said as she made her way next to Harald at the ship's prow. "But they are surprised by this. I suspect it is because my family is Christian," she continued a bit dejected with a shrug. "I hope my brother Arlen will not be proven right about my safety once in Vestfold," she added hugging herself slightly against the wind.

Harald's heart sank with her words and the hidden worry in her voice; though he understood her concern. His younger self would have done exactly that. "You are their Queen," he said wrapping his cape around her shoulders. "No one would dare harm you."

"I am not their Queen. Not yet. We are still to be wed," she reminded him, glancing back at him. The extra warmth was welcomed and she pulled it closed around her.

"You became my Queen when you were given as my bride," Harald sighed, leaning against the edge of the ship, facing her.

"But I am not their Queen," she reiterated.

Harald's eyes found hers and saw her worry. A slightly frustrated, quiet sigh left him. At least she wanted them to accept her. That was more than he could say for most other Christians he'd met. His heart tugged with care - a small sign he had been right about one thing.

She was different.

"If that is what you truly want, then you will be," he reassured her. "They will see you as I do. They will have no choice but to accept you."

She softly smiled, slightly sad. "And how is it that you see me?"

Momentary panic coursed through his veins when he realized what he'd said. Instead of falling apart from embarassment he reached for her hand and pulled her closer, settling his arms around her waist and intertwining his hands at the small of her back.

"I see you as my Queen," he said smoothly.

Her worry and sadness slowly began to fade. He was trying; which meant her belief that Arlen may have been right faded to a distant memory as she stood in his arms.

Ehrlana smiled gently at him before snuggling against him. "I hope you are right. I quite like the thought of being your Queen," she said softly with a sigh.

A smile spread across his face; pride swelling within his chest. Perhaps the Gods had not cursed him after all.

Liam watched closely as his sister cuddled into the King. He held his own reservations over their marriage, but he couldn't deny that she looked happy in his arms. He could only hope it would last.

-------

They all deboarded at Vestfold's shores; Ehrlana and her brother escorted to the main hall to prepare for the wedding.

"Halfdan!" Harald yelled as his brother came walking down the pier.

"Brother!"

The two men embraced in a joyous reunion.

"I hear you have brought a Queen home with you, but I see no woman here," he said glancing around teasingly.

Harald chuckled quietly. "Her name is Ehrlana. And she is not here because she is off preparing for our wedding," he countered with a smirk.

Halfdan returned the small smile before falling serious. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" he asked tentatively.

Halfdan knew his brother's weakness when it came to women; always choosing the wrong ones. But he'd always been there to catch him when he fell. He feared this time however that even he wouldn't be able to help if things went sour.

"A king needs a queen," he chuckled lightly, squeezing his brother's shoulder reassuringly.

"But she is Christian," he added as they headed away from the shores. "An outsider. How do we know she can be trusted?"

Harald fought the urge to let his smile fade as well. He knew this would come up with Halfdan, but the marriage was going to happen. It was good for both parties to ally with each other and his brother could either accept it or not.

"Wait until you meet her. Then, if you feel the same, we will make sure she will never think of betraying us," he offered in in compromise to keep him from spoiling the upcoming festivities.

Halfdan contemplated his brother's compromise a moment before grunting slightly in agreement. He doubted she would change his mind and he would soon prove himself right - allowing him to once again make sure Harald was protected from the fairer sex.

----

"I am nervous," Ehrlana admitted to Liam as various thralls dressed and readied her for marriage.

"I will not let any harm come your way, but if you have decided against this marriage then --"

"About tonight," she cut in.

Her brother chuckled. "Sleeping with your husband is what makes you nervous?" he asked rhetorically.

"Not all of us can be whores," she teased him, but her nerves were real and they made her voice quiver slightly.

"Listen," he started understandingly. "There is nothing to worry about. Sex is not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be. It is fun, I will not lie..."

"Liam, please. I already know of your exploits."

"It is fun, but it is not a life changing experience. You will be fine Lana."

She appreciated the effort to comfort her. Liam always knew how to calm her fears, but this was different. Harald would be the first man she ever lay with. The first to ever see her nude body. To see her truly vulnerable. And her soon to be husband's reputation for prowess hadn't missed her.

"Just, be honest with him," he added with an empathetic sigh, pulling her in for a reassuring hug. "If he has any decency at all, he will understand. And besides," he said leaning back to look at her. "I will be here at least until morning. Come and find me should he not."

#harald finehair #king harald finehair #vikings #harald x oc #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom #fan fic #historical #fiction #indie #writing

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may85 · 7 years

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Event: Halloween Drabble Title: Sweater Weather Character: Jason Crouse TV: The Good Wife Warnings: None. Photo/GIF credits go to the original maker/owner °3) Cuddling on a chilly night, 16) Scary movie marathon, 30) Sharing sweaters Slipping Jason's black sweater over my head, I went to the kitchen to get the last of our snacks for our night in of cuddling and horror movies. It was chilly out, but comfortable. Jason sat on the couch, his sweatpants low on his hips and shirtless. “Are you not cold?” I asked him, setting the snacks down on the table. “Nope,” he replied, running his hand through the hair on his torso. I bit my lip as he chuckled. “Get over here,” I happily planted myself in his lap, rolling my hips just to tease him. He gave my ass a firm smack before gripping my waist, “You, my dear, are just plain awful,” Peppering his neck and chest with kisses, I said, “You know smacking my ass is just making me horny,” “Damnit, Y/N!” he laughed, flipping us over. Jason ran his large hand from my knee to my thigh, squeezing gently as he kissed me. He pulled up my shirt, exposing the undersides of my breasts, nipping at the tender flesh. “Let's see how long you behave,” he said, smiling up at me. “And if I do?” I asked him, running my fingers through his hair. He sighed, kissing the inside of my wrist, “I'll give you one hell of a ride,” Clicking my tongue, I playfully rolled my eyes, “Promises, promises,” Throwing me off course, Jason blew a raspberry on my stomach, making me laugh loudly. After clowning around, he finally settled behind me, his hand caressing the soft flesh of my tummy as we watched Child’s Play. A knock at the door had me turning my head and raising a brow. “Food,” Jason said, kissing my cheek and getting up from the couch. He went to the chair where my knit, sweater jacket laid. “What are you-” Jason gave a cheeky grin as I busted out laughing. Masking his face, he looked annoyed when he answered the door. I could hear the delivery guy stutter and all that made me do was snort and giggle. “Poor kid. I think you scarred him for life,” “Pssft, please. This is Chicago. I'm sure he's seen way worse,” he said, sitting down with the Chinese takeout. I shook my head, turning back to the movie. Out of my peripheral, I watched as Jason dipped a spring roll and hold it out to me. I took a bite, moaning, the sweetness from the sweet and sour sauce hitting the right spot. “You're just asking for it, aren't you?” “And if I am?” Jason put the food on the table and leaned back with a sigh. I shrugged, turning my attention back to the movie just as Chucky killed someone. I wasn't expecting it, really, but Jason pounced on me, attacking my neck with nips and love bites. Yelping, I tried to tickle him, but he had quickly had my hands pinned at my head. “Gotcha,” he laughed. “You're such a shit, you know that Crouse?” He was nestled between my legs, fully turned on. “What was that?” he asked, gently moving his hips. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as I whined, “N-nothing,” The movie and food were soon forgotten and I did get that ride that I was promised. Tagging: @thedeadmost @krissy25 @fancybubble @superprincesspea @cherieann-2001 @darshaya @ladylorelitany @ali-pennell @wadeyourebarelyalive @fangirlindenial @negans-dirty-girl @smuttwd @justacaliforniandreamer @piilow-talk @pan-and-proud-writes @memphisgirl1977 @5sos1dsex @deviousginga @strangersangel9 @mogaruke @crzcorgi @siobhan-elizabeth @thecynicalnerd @cookiemunster10 @laureng-99 @miss-nori85 @rhysiecupcakes @texasgal2222 @magikat409 @jmackie1983 @sweatersandcaffeine @andillica @brandivstheworld @persephinii666 @jasoncrouse @lynnliciousadnan @astrangegirlsmind @kitcat44 @daintyunicorn @warriorqueen1991 @kellyn1604 @raspberrypuddle @zombeeegurl @shanaatjelove11 @arrow-dactyl @bebe-a7x1369 @sweetsweetpeach @prurose @--countrygurl-- @asshatry @lucifer-azrael @robertdowneyjr-rdj @gloria1995 @muldaaah @intimeandspacewithyou @meanandshallow @badsongwinchester @daddymenrah @mac5323 @a-queen-and-her-throne @thewew @tssweets @jdmfanfiction @jefferydaddymorganx @myheart4ever47 @sginger1995 @mrskokitztelford @kaitlynnegibson @fallen-angelslove @tomlinsoupstyles @jdmsgal @daniehelene27 @swettylittlegirl

#jeffrey dean morgan #jason crouse #the good wife #may85 writes

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beardmanandjen · 7 years

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The Earthquake Crew

After the earthquake a lot of us were asked ‘why are you staying?!’

It was a good question to be honest. Most of us seasonal workers had practically just arrived in Kaikoura. We had no roots or family here, no history, nothing really to keep us in a town that had ground to a complete halt and was stranded from the rest of the country. After the tourists had all left and the adrenaline had worn off, we were all left looking at a ghost of a town that should have been enjoying one of its busiest summer months, bustling with excited backpackers and holiday makers. We should have been rushed off our feet at work, exhausted but excited to be spending the summer in this beautiful place alive with incredible wildlife. Instead there was no work, no boats, no running water or a working sewage system and constant aftershocks that woke us up throughout the night, meaning everyone was constantly tired and on edge.

So the ‘why are you staying?!’ question really was completely justified. At the time I gave a few reasons, mostly along the lines of ‘we’re still determined to have a summer here’ ‘it’s still the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived’ and ‘I want to help get the town back on it’s feet’. All of those reasons were completely true and still are a big part of why we stayed, but the truth was I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was that made me so determined to stick with Kaikoura and Dolphin Encounter for as long as we could make it work. We could have cut our losses and moved back to Christchurch and back to our old jobs and lovely friends, or probably just as easily found another beautiful town to base ourselves in for the summer. But it didn’t even cross our minds...

It’s now the end of the season and I’ve had time to reflect on this incredible and insane summer and I think I’ve finally figured out what it was that really made us want to stay, and for me, it came down to these guys:

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we all became really close after the earthquake and spent the following weeks hanging out at each others houses daily, talking about the earthquake non-stop. At times it felt like we were addicted to talking about it and it was really noticeable when the conversation moved on to other subjects. Looking back I realise this was our way of dealing with the incredible event that had happened to us. All of us were in exactly the same situation - experiencing a huge life changing natural disaster miles from home without any of our family or friends around us who we would naturally turn to for support. We could all relate to how each other felt and of course this was going to bring us all close together.

We all got close pretty quick and became each other’s support systems and family away from home. We were the only ones who could truly understand what each other had been through and shared the same frustrations, fears and experiences (and massive lols)

As time moved on we talked about the earthquake less and less and started to enjoy the summer that had taken such an unexpected turn. We made the most of living in this beautiful place (despite the questionable weather the summer months brought this year) and our love of nature and alcohol ensured we always had something fun planned! (nature and alcohol is a delightful combo btw)

It’s been six months since we all met and it honestly feels like I’ve known this bunch of humans forever. If the phrase ‘there’s nowt like a natural disaster to bring people close together’ doesn’t exist then it should TOTALLY exist. Now that the end of the season is here and we’re all going our separate ways it’s hard to imagine that soon we’re going to be spread out over the globe again. I’m sure our paths will cross again someday as I’m fairly sure we’re all going to stalk dolphins and whales across the world forever now, but whatever happens these friendships will always be unique. (soz cheesy)

SO really, I just want to say thanks to my fellow seasonals for such a brilliant few months. (note: the non-seasonals are also fantastic but I’ll be seeing them in a few months so they’ll have to wait until next year for their emotional blog post)

Here’s to the in-jokes, movie nights, laughter, wine, arguments, sassiness, DOLPHINS, getting white-girl wasted, BBQs, boat trips, allllll of the food, getting earthquake chubby, ORCA, more wine, the Dennis photo, the frozen bhaji s, The Pier, paddle boarding, cycling, and general taking the piss out of each other.

Here’s to sunny Siobhan, glorious Katie, feminist-warrior Hillary, chill-as Phil, lovely Jesse, gorgeous Erin and Queen Michiel - one of the most wonderful humans I’ve ever met (it’s ok he won’t understand the compliment as it’s not his first language) AND all of the other AWESOME lovelies we’ve met this summer <3 <3

I’m going to stop this rambling love rant now as I’ve had some wine and I’m getting pretty emotional. It’s been wicked you guys - can’t wait to see you again.

xxx

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ecotone99 · 5 years

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[RO] Old School Royal Ex-partner

Note: None of these people actually exist with the exception of Princess Diana (mentioned in story)

On September 15, 1962, Siobhan Miriam McGregor and her twin sister Martha Ruth McGregor were born in Jackson Mississippi. Their mother Ruth Weissman was 20 years old and had graduated from University of Mississippi the year before. Their father Kevin McGregor was from Ireland and was a race car driver. He was 21 years old.

Many of those who lived in Mississippi were Evangelical Christians. Ruth was Jewish and Kevin was Catholic. Back in those days, one usually didn't marry outside your religion. Both Ruth and Kevin knew that no priest or rabbi would marry them. A judge at the courthouse refused to marry them saying that they came from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. He predicted the marriage wouldn't last.

Common law marriage at the time was legal in Mississippi and they thought about doing it but Ruth knew what her parents would think of that. So they got married in Las Vegas when the twins were 6 months old.

As you can imagine, their relationship was the talk of the town. During that time period, it was uncommon for someone of Jewish ancestry to marry outside their faith. In Mississippi, the Jewish community had dances and other community events for young people to attend. Ruth had attended these events in her youth. She had a couple of boyfriends but nothing serious.

The couple divorced in 1967. The judge who handled the divorce case was the same one who had predicted that the marriage wouldn't last. He made sure to remind Ruth of this fact.

Siobhan looked like the splitting image of her father with the dark hair and blue eyes. She was tall and thin. Her sister Martha looked like Ruth, light brown hair and green eyes. She was also tall and thin.

Their maternal grandparents Miriam and David Weissman made sure that they were immersed into the Jewish Community and Culture. Siobhan and Martha took different routes in their modeling life. Modeling took over Siobhan's life at age 16 when she she was crowned Miss Mississippi Teen, then Miss Mississippi USA. She was in the semi-finals of the Miss Universe Pageant. She also did modeling for NASCAR as her father was a NASCAR racer.

Martha at age 18 went to Israel and served in the army for three years. After military service she won the Miss Israel pageant and competed in the Miss Universe Pageant a year after her sister did. She came in third at the Miss Universe Pageant. She stayed in Israel and became a model.

When Siobhan was 21 years old, she went to Ireland to do some modeling as they needed models in Ireland. She had visited her father's relatives in Ireland and she had also visited the Synagogue in Dublin. She loved history so it was interesting reading about this.

While she was in Ireland, she met Prince Liam McDonald who was heir to the Irish throne. He was 27 years old. He was at one of the photo shoots having see her on the cover of Irish Woman, a magazine that his younger sister liked to read. The pair started dating and they fell madly in love with each other but getting married to each other, well that was a different story.

According to the Irish Constitution of Royals, the heir to the throne must marry someone who is Catholic or someone who would become Catholic. The woman also had to be a virgin and someone of aristocratic blood. Very similar to the British at the time.

Usually the press was respectful of the privacy of the Irish royal family and people they dated, but someone in the family, Siobhan suspected it was Queen Joan who gave information to the press about Siobhan's personal life. She never liked Siobhan nor did his younger sister Megan. Soon everyone in Ireland had an opinion about their relationship. Most people were opposed to them marrying due to religious differences. Then politics was introduced into it. I will stop there. You get the general picture. They had dated a total of 18 months.

Siobhan went back to Mississippi to visit her grandparents and her mother. While she was there, someone called her home and told her to turn on the TV as there was news about Prince Liam. When Siobhan saw the news conference, she knew. The McDonald family had found a suitable bride for the Prince, Duchess Fiona of Cork. They were to be married within 4 months.

The Duchess was the person who had helped Siobhan pack. She had no idea that this person was a Duchess.

Now she knew why his family had encouraged her to go to Mississippi to visit her family. She also knew why the modeling agency wanted her to go to New York to do some modeling. She never was called back for a modeling shoot in Ireland. But everything had worked out for the best. She wanted to model in New York and she did. She had heard that when a commoner broke up with a royal, they were often given a parting gift or gifts, so that they wouldn't talk. She guessed that this was the gift, modeling for Vogue,Harper's Bazaar, being in the fashion shows in New York, London Paris. That was her gift. It lasted about 4 years.

She decided that she wanted to spend more time with her father, so she went to NASCAR races. Married Joshua Jones who was a up and coming NASCAR driver. A year later they had triplets, two boys and a girl.

Princess Fiona watched the NASCAR awards show. Joshua Jones had won his first Winston Cup. He had won 3 Bush Series Cup. Siobhan looked happy and content with her life. Princess Fiona had a daughter 9 months and 15 days after marriage. Then she had a series of miscarriages and finally last year she had a son. They had gone thru IV fertility treatments but this was no guarantee that she would have a son. They lucked out as both families had a lot of female children. The Princess was jealous of Siobhan, although she would never admit it. Siobhan seemed to be free while she wasn't.

The marriage wasn't a happy one. They pretended that they were happy. She didn't like her in-laws and she couldn't stand his younger sister.

Over the years, Duchess Fiona and Princess Diana had become good friends. Duchess Fiona often went to London and they would have lunch together. They had first met at a Swiss boarding school but weren't in the same social circles.

1991 - Everyone was surprised when it was announced that Prince Liam and Princess Fiona had legally separated. A year later they divorced. The divorce had been very difficult to obtain, but they had ways of getting around church law.

Princess Diana and the Duchess Fiona made a bet to see who would be interviewed by Andrew Mars first. Diana went first and then a week later Fiona was interviewed. Her tell out book about her marriage to Prince Liam had become a best seller. William Mars was surprised when Fiona told them she helped Siobhan pack when she left for Mississippi.

"I really felt bad for Siobhan. I really did. She had no idea that I was engaged to be married to Liam. She loved Liam that I know as she told me so. This was done very quickly because they were afraid that Siobhan and Liam would elope in Las Vegas. He threatened to do that but never told Siobhan about it. Queen Joan and Princess Meagan are very snobby and they tend to dislike people who aren't of the same noble social standing as themselves. Liam isn't like that nor is his father, King Sean. "

William Mars paused for a moment and said, "This is a recording of what has already appeared in a Irish tabloid magazine. This is Siobhan McGregor and Liam's sister Meagan talking. Queen Joan later come into the conversation. This took place at the Castle. You sat in on this conversation.

Fiona nodded yes.

"I know a lot about you Siobhan McGregor and some of what I know about you isn't very good. You are certainly not marriage material for my brother."

"I don't know why this concerns you."

"Well, it does. It concerns my entire family. You're not Catholic, you're not of noble blood or ancestry and you weren't a victim when you met Liam. I've got your medical records to prove it."

"You know Meagan, I feel sorry for you?"

Meagan laughed, "Really, now why would you feel sorry for me?"

"That you have so much hatred in your heart for me."

"I don't hate you, although I will admit that I have a strong dislike for you."

"Is it because I'm half-Jewish?"

"No, it's not because of that. Being Jewish has nothing to do with this. You are a common person and a common person doesn't belong on the throne or married to a Prince. Royals should marry royals."

A door is heard opening and closing.

"Oh, Meagan, I see you are having a talk with Siobhan."

"Yes mother and I'm telling her that she will not be marrying Prince Liam."

"Well, Siobhan, you aren't marriage material but you certainly are mistress material. If Prince Liam so desires, you could be his mistress. Since you aren't a baptized person, no sin has been committed."

"I don't want to be his mistress. If he gets married to someone else, that's it. Our relationship is over. I don't fool around with married men. I wasn't raised that way."

"You seemed shocked by this." said Queen Joan.

"Well, in a way yes. Doesn't matter if I was baptized or not, adultery is a sin."

"Okay, then you will get a parting gift for your services to Liam. Modeling in New York, London, Paris for a year. Not a bad deal."

Siobhan said goodbye and left. The door could be heard closing softly.

"You know Meagan, Queen Joan, I feel sorry for Siobhan. I really do."

"Why in the world would you feel sorry for her. She's getting a good deal out of it. Modeling in Paris, can't get better than that."

"That sounds terrible."

"Well, she gets what she wants and she knows to keep her mouth shut. I didn't say that of course but she knows. Sort of like a gentlemen's agreement (Known but not spoken of).

William turned the recording off. Fiona started to speak.

"I had been told untrue things about Siobhan but when I heard her speak, I knew that they were lies that Princess Meagan told me (they are not on the tape and I will not repeat them because I don't believe they were true). I really felt sorry for her but it put me in a very strange position. I knew that Prince Liam didn't love me, never loved me (we got into a nasty argument about six months after we were married and he told me this). He carried a torch for Siobhan for a long time. I knew that my husband well ex-husband would take a mistress which he did. If you look at the picture, the woman is a model, looks like Siobhan and has the same name Siobhan (I'll call her Siobhan II). This was one of his mistresses. My husband had thru the course of our marriage at least 3 mistresses all of whom looked like Siobhan. One actually had her name (Siobhan II). "

"What is interesting about this whole thing is that Siobhan McGregor Jones has never talked about Prince Liam. She wrote a book about being a NASCAR wife but she never mentioned her relationship with him in the book or to anyone. Refused to talk about it."

"For this reason, I have respect for her. I imagine she could have done so but chose not to. She's the old school ex-royal partner. Doesn't say a word. Even if she were broke (she's not of course), she never would say a word. I know that she never would write a tell-all-book. She not a vindictive person like some people I know."

"I find it hard to believe Princess Fiona that you were jealous of Sibohan McGregor Jones."

"I was because she had freedom. I was in prison while being married to Liam. I felt like I was, at least. Prison that I finally got out of. I saw her at a NASCAR awards ceremony and she looked so happy with her husband and kids."

Princess Fiona smiled knowing that her ex-husband would be furious and her ex-mother in law would be throwing a shoe at the TV set, going up to the TV set and yelling at her. She had told all the dirty laundry of the family including her infertility problems and an exception that the church made for her to have IV fertility treatments.

"There was a clause stating that if your daughter had a son, then the throne would stay in the McDonald family. If she failed to have sons, then the 12 clans of Ireland would decide who would be the next King. The McDonald family wanted to make sure that didn't happen?"

"Oh yes, you are right. It's possible I would have had another daughter as daughters in both families are dominant."

Siobhan watched the interview and had mixed feelings about it. For a long time, she disliked Princess Fiona, but now she felt sorry for her. She would have had a miserable life if she had married Liam. The interview of the ex-wife just confirmed this.

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maggiedoyle · 5 years

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2018 in Review

I, along with the masses, feel the need to reflect on the year behind us as we move into a new one. All in all, it was a long and hard year for me, but looking back there were many, many good moments. I went through them today via photos on my iphone, to jog my memory of all the things I did, saw, and took in this year. While likely very boring for you, you can read my write-ups by month further down. I also wrote out the accomplishments I’m proudest of this year. What I most want to share, though, is that this exercise made me feel better and infinitely more grateful about the year that I had! It is OK to feel bad about the year, of course, but picking out the good stuff, the memories and accomplishments I will carry with me — that really helped me see 2018 for what it was and feel prepared for 2019.

This year I: walked a whole lot, with a daily average of 5.4 miles this December; started Couch-to-5K (lol) and can now run almost 2 miles without stopping; met my yearly savings goal; started a regular volunteer gig at Tenants Together and volunteered at the Women’s Building during tax season (hmu with ur housing/tax Qs, folks); fulfilled a years-old dream of traveling to Chile and Argentina (and somehow have now visited 5 continents!); spent my first full calendar year at a full-time job; completed my (albeit measly) reading goal of 12 books in 2018 (my favorite was The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes).

My resolutions include: new savings goal to meet; run a 5k; cook more (lol); write more.

2018 was a long year for a me, a bit of a slog, really. In looking back at the highlights, I also want to be honest about the downsides and the ruts. I experienced a fair amount of depression this year, more than I ever have; I tried to make big life changes that ultimately fell through; and I cried a lot. If you know me well you know my whole life is an existential crisis, but turning 25 I entered a new phase of it and I’m still grappling with finding my place. But I do believe moving through the rough stuff is important and necessary (as Bright Eyes sings, “your eyes must do some raining if you’re ever going to grow.” A little trite, a lot true). I am so, so grateful for my friends and family who have supported me, listened to me, and reminded me of my strengths when I’ve had a hard time reminding myself.

Onwards and upwards, 2019 <3

January

Rang in the new year with Leah and Sarah in DC and kissed some macaroni and cheese at midnight. Went from SF to DC and back again for family business (and saw all of my cousins together for the first time in years)— on a connecting flight, witnessed the magic of flying into LA at night. Saw so many DC/Maryland friends at a Mags-in-DC happy hour. Women’s marched.

February

Had a wonderful surprise visit from my dear friend Nacho from Chile; had a magical Dolores day that ended with free empanadas from our new friend Paula. Went back to Big Sur for the first time in 10 years (bless Nacho for supporting me in the most difficult driving I’ve ever done, in Matt’s car no less (thanks Matt!)). Went back to LA and visited the Figure 8 wall, the Museum of Death, and LACMA. Started happy hour tradition with Meredith at the Lake Chalet; sliders and lavender lemonades (lemony snickets). Got my first budget through the Port Commission.

March

Pisco party with Will. Celebrated Pi Day with Katie. Made an Irish soda bread for St. Patrick’s and celebrated with the Stones. Took a while to close out my tab because I was not the only Doyle in the bar that night (ha!). Watched the entirety of Six Feet Under, briefly considered career shift to funeral director.

April

Turned 25 and was overjoyed to be joined by my brothers for their first trip to visit me in California. We went to Land’s End and to Santa Cruz. Peter cooked a delicious salmon dinner for us before my party. Special out of town guests at my birthday included Jacob and Pablo (wow was I lucky!). Got the best haircut & highlights of my life (thanks Ms. Siobhan!). Walked to work on walk to work day. Easter morning mass with Gregory.

May

This was the month I went to Olive Garden at the Stonestown Mall by myself and sat alone at the bar. They treated me like a queen. Discovered internal family systems with my therapist and reached a turning point in learning to value myself. Was featured on SFGOVTV while my boss presented to the Board of Supervisors and I looked beautiful that day. Biked to work on bike to work day. Started volunteering at Tenants Together. Ate a tacro, it was weird.

June

Baby’s first camping trip to Arroyo Seco with Maddy, Vinnie, Gabi, and Joey. We swam in a gorge and I got a sunburn. Then we went to In-N-Out and camped a second night in the Byrne’s living room because we didn’t get a campsite for the second night. Tradr Sam’s with Gregory (he has far too much video evidence of the debauchery of this occasion). Pride at Dolores Park, someone bought me a rainbow jello shot, I vigorously reapplied sunscreen but drunkenly missed the same spots every time.

July

Freezing SF summer. Enjoyed Mamma Mia 2 (here we go again!) with the biggest Cher fan in existence (love 2 Sabrina) and Molly and Filipa. Got some summertime weather in Sacramento with Leah, where we went to a country club to play in their pool and went to the state fair. Elotes and deep fried cookie dough.

August

Attended the international dog surfing competition (!!!) in Pacifica. Had my first visit back to Ocean City in several years, ate crabs on my grandparents’ deck and Thrasher’s french fries on the boardwalk. Traveled to Chicago for a hot minute and then to Madison, Wisconsin to see two dear friends, Laura and Ryan, get married. Their song was “This Must Be The Place.” Deep fried cheese curds.

September

Another visit to LA, this time to see Maddy and Vinnie in their brand-new home. Ate so much delicious food (Little Ethiopia! Zankou! Tacos!), swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time (really swam) with Vinnie, and almost got banned from Dodgers stadium. Runyon Canyon and Point Dume with Matt and Jacob. Met a dog who lives in a laundromat after one of Molly’s shows. Published my first budget book.

October

Hiked the Marin Headlands with Matt and walked across the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time (somehow). Dogsat Stella for the Byrnes. Bought cool new glasses for $15. Canvassed for Propositions C + 10. Saw Roma at the Castro Theatre with Sarah, and Alfonso Cuaron and Yalitza Aparicio were there. Fell three (3) times at a haunted house from being scared (Molly as my witness). Killed the Halloween costume game.

November

More canvassing and phone banking for Props C + 10 (C passed!). The seawall bond passed and I was proud to have given presentations to community groups about it. Beautiful, beautiful Dia de los Muertos in the Mission with Tyler. Incredible, incredible trip to Chile and Argentina — too much to write here — terrazando, carmenere and piscolas, la cordillera, empanadas and choripans, a million museums, amazing views, and incredible company in Nacho, Rodrigo, Santiago, Joaquin, Pipe and Paz and Pablo and more. Wow.

December

Clementime with Molly. Successfully recreated my favorite dish from Buenos Aires, pollo a la portuguesa (she cooked!). Visited Sabrina in Santa Cruz, hiked Buzzard’s Roost in Big Basin and attended the greatest Christmas/guitar factory store party ever. Macaroni Grill (!!!) w Mere. Parties and shows with Joe and Pete, the Building Museum with Maddy, drinks and dinners and lunches and brunches with old, old friends. Family festivities. Rewatched all 8 Harry Potter films in a four day span.

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karakrauze · 5 years

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Warm wishes for the holiday season and Happy New Year!

Voices From War has had another exciting and full year. As we welcome in 2019, we want to share a few highlights from 2018!

We had a full year of writing workshops for veterans and family members, with offerings in Manhattan and the Bronx. Thank you to the 14th Street Y (11 seasons of workshops!) and the Morris Park (NYPL) Public Library (6 seasons!). Additionally, we had a landmark year of public events – participating in or holding FOUR PUBLIC READINGS this year! Every single one available free to the public, and sharing original writing from our workshop participants.

To all of our Voices From War supporters Thank you! and, if you’re able, please consider making an end-of-year donation, as we head into 2019!

THANK YOU to each of our 2018 Participants and our Readers, Instructors, Audiences & Hosts!

FEBRUARY – DECEMBER 2018

Writing & Reading War Stories in the 21st Century – we’ve entered our sixth year of workshops! * Seasons 10 & 11 at our fantastic downtown Manhattan host, the 14th Street Y. * Our thanks to Nina Semczuk, a dedicated Teaching Associate and then co-Instructor for several seasons. * With Nina’s departure, we were fortunate to be joined by Siobhan Adcock, talented author and also a veteran family member, with her second novel just out in 2018. * Thank you to our Manhattan co-instructors Scott Reel and Siobhan Adcock. All INSTRUCTOR BIOs can be found on the website’s Instructors’ page.

The Craft of War Writing in the Bronx * Seasons 5 & 6 at the wonderful NYPL – Morris Park Public Library. * A huge thank you to Jeremy Warneke (6 seasons!) and co-Instructor John LoSasso. * And we were thrilled to present our first Bronx Reading – see more below!

May 15, 2018 – Poets & Writers – 9th Annual Connecting Cultures Reading

It was an honor to share the stage with other Poets & Writers’ supported workshops at the 9th Annual Connecting Cultures Reading, presented by Poets & Writers and hosted by the Center for Book Arts.

June 3, 2018 – Veteran Mosaic – Voices From War Summer Reading

Voices From War returned to the 14th Street Y Theater where we were thrilled to present writing from 8 workshop participants (Manhattan & the Bronx).

November 10, 2018 – Voices From War at Lewis Latimer House Museum (Reading in Queens)

What a powerful way to honor and celebrate Veterans Day Weekend. Six of our Voices From War participants (from our 14th Street Y workshop and the Craft of War Writing in the Bronx) shared their work at the historic Latimer House Museum in Queens, home to African-American inventor and Union Army Civil War veteran, Lewis H. Latimer. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the museum, put it on your calendar for 2019.

December 8, 2018 – The Craft of War Writing – Voices in the Bronx – Voices From War Winter Reading

We celebrated an amazing year of workshops and events with our first Reading in the Bronx at the Morris Park Library, host to the Craft of War Writing since our first season at the NYPL in Spring 2016. This warm and welcoming Reading featured 7 of our participants (Bronx and Manhattan) and brought our diverse audience together to hear original writing followed by delicious contributions from local vendors. Thank you to Morris Park Library and our #Bronx community!

Public readings are a deeply meaningful experience for readers and audience alike. If you couldn’t catch one of our events in 2018, we hope to see you in 2019! Stay tuned for upcoming events. And, of course, if you are a veteran (or family member) please consider one of our workshops this year — and please share with others who might be interested! Registration opens in January.

Additional 2018 community events & news highlights included…

April 27, 2018 – Hunter College Conference – “Moral Transformation and War”

Thank you to Hunter College and Professor Christa Acampora for including Voices From War in this engaging group of presentations. Voices From War director Kara Krauze presented with writer (and previous participant) Teresa Fazio. Voices From War: Bridging Divides: Writing a Kaleidoscope of Experience

June 8, 2018 – Vassar’s Veterans Posse Program

Kara was fortunate to attend this panel event offering a chance to hear from current Veterans Posse Program participants – veterans attending Vassar College supported by additional #community through the Posse Program. Also pleased to soon after reconnect with Voices From War alum and Veterans Posse Program participant Gino Ruiz.

June 2018 – Visiting artist, Zinaida

We were pleased to welcome Ukrainian artist Zinaida and her colleague as guests to our June Reading, and to visit her exhibit and learn more about Zinaida’s work with Ukrainian veterans and art. Zinaida exhibited her powerful work at White Box gallery in NYC and brought her art workshop, ArtRehub, to the VA during her visit.

June 20, 2018 – incoming Co-Instructor, Siobhan Adcock – Book Launch

Voices From War instructor, Siobhan Adcock, celebrated the launch of her second novel, The Completionist, at the PowerHouse Arena in Brooklyn. We are thrilled to have Siobhan Adcock continuing with co-Instructor Scott Reel for our upcoming Season 12 at the 14th Street Y!

September 5, 2018 – Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Community Arts Breakfast

Hosted by Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling (in Hamilton Heights) and featuring inspiring stories from other community arts organizations. Voices From War was honored to be a speaker in 2017 and once again excited and inspired to attend this year’s gathering.

September 13, 2018 – The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards

Voices From War is honored to receive grant support from the Rona Jaffe Foundation (RJF). The RJF Awards event in September featured guest speaker Tayari Jones and honored 6 new emerging women writers. Amazing work!

November 30, 2018 – Intrepid After Hours – Voices From War at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

It was great to return to the Intrepid for another Voices From War workshop offered as Intrepid After Hours programming. Instructors Jeremy Warneke and Kara Krauze met a wonderful group of participants.

December 3, 2018 – Voices From War – The Craft of War Writing featured on BronxNet TV

Thank you to three of our instructors, Jeremy Warneke and John LoSasso (The Craft of War Writing – Bronx) and Siobhan Adcock (14th Street Y – Manhattan), for their appearance on BronxNet TV show “Open” to share about our workshops and our Dec. 8th Reading in the Bronx. Missed the show? You can still catch it (about 13 minutes in) on the BronxNet website.

We are deeply grateful, as ever, to our multi-year grant support from Amazon Literary Partnership, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Poets & Writers (Readings & Workshops Program), and the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Our collaboration in the Bronx has also benefited from additional support from the Bronx Council on the Arts.

And all of our workshops and programming also continue to rely on YOU, our individual contributors and all of our supporters, veteran, military family, and civilians alike. THANK YOU to our community! Your support for veterans and diverse voices matters!

#MoreVoices

Here is to a rewarding 2019!

Stay tuned and stop by the website for more updates, upcoming 2019 REGISTRATION and MORE! And save the date for our next Open House: Sunday, FEBRUARY 17, 4:00-5:30 pm.

As always, each of you continue to make Voices From War’s successes and ongoing growth possible — through your participation, whether as attendee, audience member, supporter, volunteer, engaged community members and contributors!

Thank you! We hope you will continue to follow our progress in 2019, participate in our workshops and attend our events! And please consider making an end-of-year contribution. ALL donations help support our ongoing success, showing our community-based support and community engagement! Whether you can give $20 or $200, or somewhere in between, your support helps us grow and strive!

Here’s to a rewarding and healthy New Year, rich with community and more stories! #MoreVoices

To make a tax-deductible donation, visit our fiscal sponsorship page on Fractured Atlas…or click-through via our website.

Browse the website for more photos!

Warmest wishes!

With thanks,

Kara

Kara Krauze Founder, Director Voices From War Writing Workshops for Veterans VoicesFromWar.org

________________________________

Best wishes for 2019! & a Review of our 2018 Programs! HAPPY NEW YEAR from @VoicesFromWar ! #MoreVoices #community #veterans #NYE2019 Warm wishes for the holiday season and Happy New Year! Voices From War has had another exciting and full year.

#morevoices #14th Street Y #Bronx #Happy New Year 2019 #literature #reading #service #veteran stories #Voices from War #war writing #writing workshop

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sustainhealthmagazine · 5 years

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How to succeed in your resolutions for 2019

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With January and a new year on the horizon, it’s a time that many of us start to look at our lifestyle choices and make plans to introduce healthier habits or life changes. The world’s leading authority on addiction, Allen Carr’s Easyway is well versed in helping people achieve their resolutions, throughout the year.

Allen’s Carr’s Easyway has proved to be the most successful stop-smoking method of all time, curing an estimated 30 million people worldwide, offering access via the best-selling book, group seminars or the new online seminar programme. A recent study from the Irish health service proved it is twice as effective as the other smoking cessation methods currently on offer. Allen Carr’s Clinics are available in 50+ countries across the globe and the method is endorsed by a wide variety of celebrities and opinion formers. Michael McIntyre, Richard Branson, Chrissie Hynde, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ellen DeGeneres, Lou Reed and Anjelica Huston are long-term supporters of Allen Carr’s Easyway.

Following on from the success with smoking, the addiction experts at Easyway have successfully applied the method to other areas including e-cigarettes, alcohol, weight, drugs, sugar, caffeine, anxiety, debt, gambling and fear of flying – all habits or problems that people will look to change in 2019.

John Dicey, Global CEO of Allen Carr’s Easyway, offers his tips to help you stick to your resolutions: With so much sensational looking, gorgeous smelling, tempting & tasty food (not to mention the booze) available throughout the Christmas season - it’s easy to become entirely immersed in excessive consumption. Not just for a day - but for the entire period. Many people emerge into the New Year having ended up wobbling around the Christmas tree rather than rocking around it.

1. Make only one resolution, two at most. Sometimes we’re so determined for a fresh start in the New Year we end up biting off far more than we can chew. Packing in the fags, quitting drinking, going to the gym every day, going on a diet, putting away some savings, spending less time watching TV or gaming all seem like good ideas at the time – but try to handle them all in January and they’ll falling by the wayside faster than the needles on your dried out Christmas tree. 2. Whatever your New Year’s Resolution is – write it down. Highlight the massive advantages that success will bring. Explore every angle of success and make a note of it. Whatever your resolution is – if it’s worth achieving – you should have at least 4 or 5 bullet points that won’t fail to make you smile. 3. Rather than starting off with a feeling of doom and gloom – focus on those upsides that you’ve written down and enjoy them from the moment you embark on your resolution. Don’t wait until you start noticing them. If you won a holiday of a lifetime – but had to wait until May before you went away on it – you wouldn’t wait until May to start feeling good about it would you? Of course not. Enjoy your new life, right from the start. 4. Do it for yourself. It’s tempting to decide to quit smoking, lose weight, or cut down on your drinking for the sake of your partner or of your kids. Don’t do it. An argument with them or a rough day of kids or your partner squabbling, and that motivation becomes a little less strong as the temptation to cave in and declare, in true drama queen style “Now look what you’ve made me do” as you light a fag or rip open a box of Milk Tray. Make your resolution for yourself – for one simple reason; that you’ll enjoy your year so much more as a result of sticking with it. 5. It’s not “all or bust”. If you end up falling down, eating those apparently irresistible cookies that someone left out, or missing your trip to the gym after a hard day at work – don’t beat yourself up. You haven’t committed a crime, you just slipped up, that’s all. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, focus on your highlights list and feel good about yourself. Here’s a small selection of success stories from 2018 Phil Tabor, aged 54, lives in Buckinghamshire. Quit his 20-a-day smoking habit + sugar addiction In the past year, Phil has successfully quit his 20-a-day smoking habit. After attending an Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking seminar he never had another cigarette. And after completing a Weight Loss & Sugar Addiction Online seminar, he managed to quit his junk food habit as well, losing 54lbs in the space of four months. Phil comments: “I’m not anti-smoking, I see other people’s reliance on cigarettes, I stand and socialise with them still, but I am a proud non-smoker. The best thing about stopping smoking and giving up sugar is finally being the version of me I’ve always wanted to be!” Siobhan Lane, aged 28, lives in Melton Mowbray Leicestershire. Quit sugar and lost more than 20 pounds in a few months A busy mum and Managing Director, Siobhan spent many years struggling to address her diet and lose weight. A friend recommended the Allen Carr Weight Loss & Sugar Addiction Online Seminar. Siobhan attended a seminar in September 2018 and immediately changed her eating habits, resulting in a weight loss of more than 1.5 stones.

Siobhan comments: “Before the seminar I was sceptical, I had tried so many diets and exercise fads but as soon as the online seminar finished I had an urge to clear my cupboards of all the bad things I didn't realise I was eating! I now cook from scratch almost all the time, when previously I was the take-away Queen. I have fallen back in love with my body. I had terrible body issues after I had my 2 children and really struggled to lose the extra pounds. But now I feel like I’m 18 again. I have more energy and I feel more positive about myself. Everyone should live their life by the Easway, because it really is so easy!” Di Wright, aged 60 lives in East Anglia. Quit alcohol, following a daily battle Di Wright is a Health & Safety officer. After becoming concerned about the amount of alcohol she was consuming, always a bottle of wine each night but sometimes two, Di decided to address it by reading the Easyway to Control Alcohol book. Di comments: “Everything the books say has come true for me: there absolutely IS a very happy life after stopping drinking. I have regained my self-respect, I realised the other morning as I came downstairs to start my day that I was smiling and I had a great sense of wellbeing for absolutely no other reason than it was just good to be alive. It doesn’t get better than that. I have changed nothing else and I still enjoy going out. If anyone is worrying about their drinking becoming out of hand then have courage and check out the Allen Carr Easyway books."

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#health #fitness #lifestyle #good health #brits

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young-queens-unite · 6 years

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Young Women's Leadership - 3 months on

As the year begins to draw to a close, I can't believe it's already been 3 months since I was part of the amazing Young Women's Leadership program!

Wow how things have changed, I still reminisce and miss the program and all the amazing queens dearly, in fact every time I drive to or past clayton my heart instantly fills with love and warm memories of the amazing 10 weeks we spent together this past winter. I'm super sad that I won't be able to make the reunion but I decided I'd still like to write a short reflection and update on how things have been since the end of the program...

I've become close friends with some amazing girls and shared some really interesting experiences both good and bad with people the last few months. I've become very observant and interested in society and have picked up on so many key issues that women face which I never even used to think of.

I've become more fascinated than ever in the topic of gender inequality and my passion for the rights of young girls and women everywhere has continued to grow. I've noticed things from as small as incidents in shopping centres or schools, to major issues like rape, control, sexual abuse and harassment and I've realised how badly our society is failing to support and work with these people to free them from harm.

I've been a part of the annual walk against domestic violence and have began my own blog in which I write about issues facing young women which is drawn from my own personal experiences and observations.

I've been more and more driven towards the pathway which I want to follow in life, and have recently decided to apply to study a social science course at RMIT next year.

I am hoping to one be like Siobhan, Divya and other like minded strong women who can work together to educate, support and empower girls and young women and show them that they have a voice and can stand up for whatever they want in life.

This year has truly been an eye opener, whilst a lot of these issues are around they not often spoken about or publicised in the way that they need to be, everyone needs to know how to stand up and be themselves.

I'm going to miss all the 2017 queens and I hope I can come back next year to visit the program. Hopefully things will be on and upwards from here. Thank you once again!

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juliemichaelsenphotography · 7 years

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"Maddy delivered an excellent, relevant and very informative presentation to our members, using language everyone could understand no matter their current knowledge levels. Feedback was complimentary and enthusiastic – some even saying that they learnt more in the 3 hours than they had on other day courses on the subject." ⠀ -Siobhan Craven-Robbins at the NAWP.⠀ ⠀ The world of SEO is fast changing and can often be a source of confusion and frustration by business owners, luckily there are people out there like Maddy, dubbed 'The Queen of SEO' by her numerous clients within the wedding industry...we're very lucky to welcome Maddy on The Nordic Way Workshop on 19th September! ⠀ ⠀ She will be giving us practical, actionable and no-nonsense SEO information, jargon explained and myths dispelled. ⠀ ⠀ In this day and age if you are a photographer and not paying attention to SEO...well you're really missing a trick...get in touch for information about joining us, we are almost at capacity so...don't delay ☺️ #juliemichaelsenphotography #thenordicwayworkshop #seoforbusiness #seoforphotographers #fineartweddingphotographyworkshop #ukweddingphotographer #weddingphotographyworkshop #bebetter #communityovercompetition #goals #weddingpros #weddingindustry #hybridshooter #hygge http://ift.tt/2i5A3RS

#JulieMichaelsenPhotography

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 8

Poor Little Rich Kids (in which Fabian Decidedly Does Not Get His Groove Back and Adaine Chooses a Nice Hill to Die On)

We are at the Row and the Ruction and the Bad Kids are in the fight of their lives, facing off not only against Captain James Wicklaw and his crew over the crown of the Pirate King, but also a contingent of elves from Falinel who have shown up to drag Adaine back with them and they’re commanding a huge air elemental. Not only that, Fabian is still suffering from two levels of exhaustion AND--due to his recent trauma--Fabian has lost the Champion sub-class and is not able to apply any class features. No second wind, no action surge, no extra attacks. Our boy has been nerfed to hell. And, to make matters worse, the Bad Kids didn’t roll stellar on initiative and they’ll continue to roll like trash all fight. And they haven’t rested since their last fight! Everyone is damaged and/or low on spell slots.

Fabian rolled the best on initiative but, there’s not much he can do. At Cathilda’s urging, he falls back and fires his crossbow. The elves have the air elemental attack and then Banish Tracker which is not great for such a banged up party. Gorgug sends Gilear in the Van after Garthy and then wrecks some pirates. One of the elves casts Flesh to Stone on Adaine and she fails her save. She begins petrifying and has to roll death-like saves to keep from turning fully to stone. Cathilda gets a Nat 20 on one of her attacks and slices a tentacle off of Captain Wicklaw. Sandra-Lynn and Ragh also do well on their turns.

Everyone but Riz (who is hiding in the rafters) has to make an Int save against Captain Wicklaw’s psionic hate blast and all of the PC’s fail and are stunned which means they can't move, can only barely speak (hindering even vocal only spells), and have attacks taken against them with advantage. They also auto fail Strength and Dex saves. Not a good condition to have at any time, but especially now.

After some attacks, the pirates are badly injured but not badly enough for the Bad Kids to have any comfort. Adaine makes her save to become unstunned but then rolls a Nat 1 on the petrification save. Riz shoots from the rafters to try and break the concentration of the elf who banished Tracker but she rolls exactly what she needs to save. Wicklaw takes a legendary action (because of course this dude has a legendary action, he’s a MINDFLAYER) and shoots Fabian before teleporting up to the Ruction. Fabian rolls a Nat 1 on his save for being stunned. Siobhan stages an impromptu Baptism for Lou’s dice irl.

The elves’ elemental grabs Adaine and bring her up to the Ruction. Fig gives Adaine some Bardic. And then, plot twist! Adaine’s DAD (Anguin Abernant) drops Greater Invisibility and casts Dominate Person on Adaine. Adaine makes her Wisdom save (with a +6 mod and advantage plus her Bardic from Fig) and tells her dad to go to hell.

Fig (who is at 9 HP at this point) gets attacked by a pirate and drops to zero, taking down a pirate with her with a Hellish Rebuke. Gorgug, the tank, is at 5 HP. Yeah, it’s that bad. With Cathilda’s help, Gorgug finally snaps out of his stunned condition. Sandra-Lynn brings Fig back up. Wicklaw shoots Fabian. Adaine fails a petrification save but makes her stun save. Then, she takes a Misty Step away from the elemental that has her. Riz tries to steal the crown from Wicklaw and fails but, luckily, Wicklaw fails on his retaliatory attack. Fabian and Kristen continue to fail their stun saves.

The air elemental grabs Adaine again. Fig Dimension Doors herself and Gorgug to where Adaine is and gives her Bardic. Anguin tries to Dominate Person on Adaine again and also to guilt trip her. Adaine makes the save, easy, and sidesteps the parental guilt trip even easier. A bunch of pirates have made it into the Ruction, Sandra-Lynn is looking bad and Kristen is at 3 HP. Things are looking bad. Real bad.

Which is why one of the elves offers Adaine a choice. Teleportation only works on a willing creature. If Adaine allows herself to be teleported to Falinel, the elves will stop helping Wicklaw and give her friends a fighting chance. Even though she technically has two options, Adaine only sees one. She’s defiant as ever but she goes with the elves. They poof away but, as they do, Adaine makes a petrification save (again, with Fig’s Bardic) and the casts Sending to tell Ayda that her friends are being attacked and ask for help. She gets a reply: “Your friends are my friends.” Ayda’s on her way.

Gorgug does a bunch of damage on Wicklaw and goes down, but pops back up to 1 HP with Relentless Endurance. Cathilda kills some pirates then stays close to the still stunned Fabian to guard him. Wicklaw stuns Gorgug again, puts him in a grapple, and gets ready to eat his brains. Riz blasts an already badly injured Wicklaw for 25 damage. Kristen and Fabian fail their stun saves AGAIN. Fig fails her attack on Wicklaw but heals Gorgug for a few points.

Sandra-Lynn rushes Wicklaw and knocks him out of the Ruction and into the Row (freeing Gorgug from his grapple) but then Wicklaw stabs her and she goes down. Riz hides and then shoots with a Nat 20! 47 damage! Wicklaw goes down...but we find that he’s not completely out when Riz runs to grab the crown and gets shot at point blank range and then slashed with Wicklaw’s saber. He drops and falls into the Row next to Sandra-Lynn, taking two death save fails from getting trampled. Emily weighs her in game loyalty to her mom against her out of game loyalty to Murph and then heals Sandra-Lynn. Then she and Gorgug tag-team the final chunk of damage and kill his ass. FINALLY. Fig also steals his soul because, why not? With Wicklaw dead, the pirates not affiliated with him quickly beat the tar out of the rest of his men and the gang take his hate-sword (which Fig gets later).

Tracker pops out of Banishment and passes out heals. Ragh and Cathilda snap Kristen and Fabian out of being stunned. Cathilda tries to comfort Fabian but he’s still feeling awful about Cathilda being forced to babysit him and him not being able to help Riz. Riz tries to give him a pep talk (eliciting probably the *second* saddest Hoot-Growl to date) but it doesn’t seem to stick. Fig, confusingly paranoid, insight checks Cathilda (finding nothing suspicious that she’s not making up in her own head). Jemina Joy shows up and informs everyone that Gilear has crashed the Van because Of Course he has.

Riz asks Fabian what they should do with the Pirate King crown but he’s still uncharacteristically indecisive, deferring to Cathilda who suggests they mount the crown on Wicklaw’s head in Gibbety Square where the old one was. They do so. Then, they debate whether they should take a rest before going after Adaine and decide going after her ASAP is the best move, especially considering she sacrificed herself for them. Ayda agrees to teleport everyone to Falinel but first, they head back to the Gold Gardens to regroup.

Gorgug takes Fabian aside to tell him that it’s OK that he didn’t get to be the hero this fight because that’s the whole point of being on a team but also that he needs to get it together for Adaine’s sake. Kristen also pulls Fabian aside (either before or after she and Tracker have a poorly times tryst upstairs) and tells him that, as the Queen of Being a Hot Mess, it’s OK for him to be a Hot Mess for a bit while he’s figuring things out because the party will have his back. She also apologizes for comparing him to Gilear. Then Gilear pulls Fabian aside and--nah, he doesn’t have a pep talk lined up. He needs money to pay someone off. Fabian gives him the gold.

Once everyone (sans Adaine, of course) gets back together, Jemina Joy tells them that they’re welcome back any time. Garthy asks where specifically they want to go since Falinel is a big country. Because of the way Adaine was taken, their best guess for where she is is wherever Aelwyn is being held. They consult the dossier which says she’s being held in Calethiel Tower. Teleporting there is a no-go because of the heavy security but there are a number of adjoining provinces, one of which (the land of the Lomenelda) is actually where Fabian’s mom is from. They decide to poof in there. As they go (Ayda included, she’s not just sending them), Tracker (and Gilear for that matter) notices a strange, loaded goodbye between Garthy and Sandra-Lynn. What’s that about, asks Tracker. Uh, let’s put a pin in that, Kristen replies.

Back with Adaine (who is now fully clear of petrification), she has been teleported to a very nice courtyard with these elven wizards and her dad. Her dad and one of the elves (whose name sounds like Kier to me but who the hell knows between the weird spelling and the low, breathy, elven talking) stay with her. Kier tells Adaine she made a noble choice but Adaine isn’t having it. She tries to Misty Step out of the room and her dad dispels her magic. She casts Greater Invisibility of herself. Boom, dispelled by Kier. Adaine refuses them even an inch of cooperation or cordiality, even when they volunteer the information that her friends made it out of the fight. Kier leaves Adaine alone with her dad and Adaine, again, absolutely refuses to play ball (don’t worry, I’m skimming because I’m coming back to this). Anguin tells Adaine to stop being obstinate. Falinel will have an oracle. And if they don’t have one, they will make one. Fine, says Adaine, with no pause at all. Kill me. Adaine is determined to be a thorn in her fathers’ side for the rest of her life and death if it comes to that. Anguin finds her response more annoying than actually frustrating and leaves.

An elf comes to take Adaine to her room but she does the little kid thing of lying down and refusing to engage so he handcuffs her instead and drags her away and up the tower. On the way up, she sees a beautiful marble chamber with a 15 ft diameter glass orb that is slightly rotating. Inside is Aelwyn, on her hands and knees, crawling as it rotates. Aelwyn doesn’t notice her but Adaine can tell she’s been kept from trancing for almost a year and is extremely “trance-deprived”.

Kier and Anguin come back in as Adaine hides under the blankets. On a failed Wis save, Kier lands a detect thoughts on her. Kier asks Adaine about the last time she saw her mom. Adaine doesn’t answer but runs into the “Don’t think about a pink elephant,” problem. Her thoughts betray her, even as she remains tight-lipped. As she’s being interrogated, she sees the stars through a window and can tell, more or less, where in Falinel she is (which could be helpful once she can cast Sending again).

One last question for Adaine: Is she going to start cooperating or is she going to keep being a pain in their ass?

Take a wild guess at which option she picks.

She picks the hard way. Fine, says Kier. Put her in a trance-deprivation Torture-Orb. Because F the Fantasy Geneva Convention I guess.

Detention

Anguin for Being an Absolute Sunuvabitch and the WORST Father in the Kingdom and Any Other

I’m not giving him the dignity of more than a single sentence devoted to him so there.

Honor Roll

Adaine for So Much

My Girl!

Adaine was on fire this episode, starting with the long overdue confrontation with her father. When he dropped Invisibility to try to Dominate Person her, I felt my stomach drop. Losing control of your character sucks in general but, in the context of Adaine’s relationship with her dad, it would have been that much more painful a loss, but she resisted like a champ both times!

Then, as I suspected might happen, she was given the opportunity to surrender to give her friends a better chance, and she took it without question. She didn’t even consider it a choice. She willingly walked into basically her worst case scenario, and not even for a guarantee at their safety. For a chance. To maybe turn the tide. She gave herself up for any advantage she could give them.

And THEN, when she cast Sending to Ayda--a SUPER clutch move by the way--she didn’t even say, “Hey, help me please.” She didn’t say anything about herself at all. She said, “My friends are in danger. Please help them.” And, because Adaine put the effort into building that bridge and making that friend last episode, even though she didn’t have to--they already had what they needed at that point--Ayda says yes. “Your friends are my friends.”

And, here’s the thing. Adaine isn’t stupid. She’s very much the opposite of that. I mentioned last recap that Adaine was potentially putting herself in dangerous waters by not cooperating seeing as Falinel could kill her to trigger a new elven Oracle being selected. I was concerned she might not have thought about that. Oh, no. She’s thought about it. She just doesn’t give a single damn. She is being obstinate in the face of her potential demise. She went with them, fully aware that her death was on the table. And, then, she proceeded to be as difficult a prisoner as she was capable of being.

And, I have to give major, major, major props to Siobhan. In my opinion, one of her biggest strengths an an RP-er (besides being one of the Keepers of the Party Brain Cells) is her ability to string words together on the fly in just the most perfect way. Like her speech to the American Dream in Unsleeping City? She gave a small pause and then the exact perfect combination of words fell out of her mouth, like magic. But it wasn’t, she’s just that good. And that’s how I felt in this episode too. The second she was alone with Anguin, I thought, “Alright Siobhan, showtime.” And she delivered, as always. She went ALL the way back. It wasn’t, “I can’t believe you kidnapped me just now.” It was, “You abandoned me.” OF COURSE, that’s where Adaine would start. OF COURSE, she’s still raw about that. OF COURSE she wants to talk about her shitty childhood. But it wasn’t the meek, broken, childish tone from Promocalypse. This was cold, and hardened, and defiant to the core. Anguin hinting at her possible death and her basically spitting it back in his face was such a power move. Absolutely outstanding. And then her final line: “That unfinished business will remain unfinished because there is no level of an annoyance to you that will be satisfying to the ghost of me.” That sentence is constructed in such a way that it would have been very easy to trip over but Siobhan delivered it flawlessly and stuck the landing for maximum impact.

Bravo to Adaine for being put in a situation that would have had her rolling for panic attacks in S1 and, instead, helping her friends and standing her ground.

Random Thoughts

Apologies that my fight play-by-play isn’t exact. People were getting stunned and unstunned all over the place and it was hard to keep track. Trust me, the details are less important than the fact that everyone had a bad time.

We got new character art for Fabian and Cathilda here.

Brennan, channel Big Cubby Energy: All laws are actually just structured threats.

What are the kids supposed to do for the last 2-3 months of school? Also, I ask again, are all of the quests going on at Aguefort right now this personal and entwined with emotional baggage? Or is it just the Bad Kids being forced to fight their family members and dead families' enemies and the like?

“Friends don’t let friends’ brains get eaten by their fathers’ mortal enemies.”

More than anyone, Emily was LIVING for Lou’s choice to nerf Fabian. Game respects game.

Also, the mild panic and then relief from Emily when Zac said that he called for Gilear...to get in the Van and go get Garthy was so funny. Mark my words, Emily is going to die for an NPC eventually. It might be in NADDPOD, it might be in D20, but it’s gonna happen.

That bit where Adaine is like, “We can hear your music through your headphones,” and Gorgug is like, Oh no! Relatable.

This was yet another fight where, after it was over, I was like, “I can’t believe all this happened in like 45 seconds of game time.” I mean, we had people dying or almost dying multiple times, they lost two party members (one for real), they were getting hit with so many status conditions, it was a whirlwind of a fight. And also a good example of how bad initiative can totally screw you.

Having both healers incapacitated all fight also really screwed them. If they hadn’t both been down and could have provided some buffs, thrown up Spirit Guardians, and healed, that could have been an enormous help. Of course, I get the sense the elves could have thrown down a lot harder than they did if they’d had to, but it still would have been better to have at least one functioning cleric.

And then the lack of rest between this fight and the last. RIP them.

Even though they spent most of the fight getting womped, I didn’t feel the energy drop that I did during some of the other hard fights they had. Everyone was still obviously having a good time, which is great because it makes it more fun for us as the audience.

Fig: I’m kind of a closed book.

Also Fig, Midfight to Adaine: Love you girl!

Also Fig, Upon Being Given Permission to do an AoE Attack the Would hit Adaine: NOOOO!

Also Fig, Distraught: I used my everything to try and save you!

Also Fig, Who Knows the NK can and Has Controlled People, specifically Her and Ragh: The Nightmare King could be anyone except my six friends.

Man, Ally invoked their nat20 summoning powers a bunch this ep but it just wasn’t happening. The dice really were not on the party’s side at all this ep.

Like Emily, I thought for a sec at the end of the fight that Brennan was saying Anguin was left behind, not referring to Gilear. I would have LOVED to see the crew gang up on him post-fight. Remember when Riz was interrogating Biz and started blasting off fingers? Good times.

I also low key thought Fig was gonna do something to torture Wicklaw’s soul. I’ve been trying to figure out why she can do that. I think she said it’s a racial ability, but I haven’t figured out what it is yet.

The whole group telling Ayda that her formal friendship declaration is weird, but objectively less confusing than the typical way of doing it.

Also, I told you making friends was gonna pay dividends! The secret (“secret”) goal of every D&D campaign is to make as many friends as possible, starting with your party members and the sky’s the limit after that. And it works out perfectly since Adaine is gone but they have another high level wizard with the same specialty filling in.

Gilear shaking down Fabian for 250g instead of giving him a pep talk was low key hysterical. The comic timing on that from Brennan was so good.

I wonder what Riz was going to tell Fabian during his pull aside. I think this is like the second time Riz was going to pull him aside and then it ended up not happening. He’d already talked to him earlier so I wonder what else he wanted to say that would have required a pull-aside.

Wild that Kristen took the Warding Bond to help Fabian and then both of them were basically out the entire fight. Lol, maybe that’s why Ally couldn’t dicemance this episode. Their luck was tied to Lou’s terrible streak.

Looks like we’re finally gonna get some insight on Fabian’s mom’s side of the family. We really don’t know much about her. Wouldn’t it be wild if all of them were essentially country/farmer elves and Halariel is the only one who’s Like That because she moved away and “made it”.

“Minus 3 to Dex, also in real life.”

As much as I loved every choice Adaine made in this episode, (1) I feel like I would have at least counter-offered the elves something like, “Help us win then I’ll go,” and (2) I couldn’t help but worry about the position she was putting herself in by not playing along at least a little, although it would only have helped her so much because outright lying to someone who has detect thoughts on you is damn near impossible. She at least could have saved herself the torture of trance-deprivation. But, like, is she gonna be able to take her meds? Because this very much seems like an Anxiety Inducing Situation.

I’m gonna fight Kristen and Tracker for stopping to have sex in the middle of this and I’m gonna fight Brennan for ending this episode on a sex joke.

Also, looks like the whole Sandra-Lynn/Garthy/Jawbone situation is finally about to come to a head. So just add that to the list of things you’re bracing for.

Sandra-Lynn re: Fig Stealing A Pirate’s Soul: Horrifying, You’re wonderful.

“My friend’s a rock star!”

I love that Fig consistently says, “You wanna go for a ride?” before she uses Dimension Door with someone.

“Is almost died the same as having died?”

“I think I have a lot of friends but then everyone is mean to me.” Rizzzzz. But also, all my closest friendships in high school could easily be mistaken for my enemies for all the time we spent clowning on each other.

Lol at that one elf trying to turn Adaine’s words back on her as a zinger (“Must not be a great oracle.”) but failing twice because Adaine/Siobhan’s genuinely did not remember what she said before.

As blunt as Ayda is, her, “Your friends are my friends,” was one of the sweetest moments of the episodes. There is something really touching about plainly stating emotional information.

Man! I have been wanting to see what exactly is going on with Aelwyn for AGES and we finally caught a glimpse. I was wondering whether she was in a country club prison or more of a Gitmo situation and I forgot that elves are so into The Aesthetic that they will put you in a torture device in a country club. But yeah, they def aren’t pulling their punches. They’re been torturing her for almost a year. That’s brutal (and mechanically bad because even if they break her out, she’s gonna have zero spell slots and 5 levels of exhaustion probably which is one less than it takes to kill you). And I’m curious. Is it a means to an end or is the torture the end itself? Is there information she refused to give them or is this just how they punish people in Falinel? In any case, you don’t get tortured for a year without at least a little mind-breakage. Very interested to see where is on a scale from 0 to Avanash and how she reacts to Adaine when they inevitably meet again. And I’m curious to see if Adaine softens to her sister at all under the circumstances. That Aelwyn redemption arc is within our grasp.

Likewise, this gives us more information we can use to make guesses about what’s going on with Adaine’s mom. She pretty clearly isn’t working with Falinel seeing as the don’t know where she is and Aelwyn is being held under bad conditions. All signs seem to point to her going rogue and breaking from both her husband and Falinel to try and spring her daughter. I want Adaine to have at least one half-decent parent and I also want the Drama of it All so I really hope that’s what we end up seeing.

F Adaine’s dad, man. Like, truly and from the bottom of my heart. To make a kid--your kid--feel so unloved is frankly a travesty. And to be able to do something this terrible to your kid without showing any emotion really in either direction is heartless and cruel in such a casual way. I hope he has enough capacity for emotion to feel properly brought low when the Bad Kids kick his ass.

And I’m very ready to see all the rest of the Bad Kids [Edit: Just Realized I never finished this thought. All I was gonna say was I’m excited to see the rest of the Bad Kids torn up/angry/determined/whatever over this. A character getting kidnapped is great for any found family story because then you get to watch everyone else move heaven and earth to try and rescue them which is very my jam.]

Everyone calling for Fabian (particularly Riz who was like Dying-dying) and Fabian just not being able to do anything was so rough. And even rougher because, out of game, Stunned is a status condition but, in game, there’s really nothing actually stopping you. It’s not like you’re being physically held back. It’s all in your head. So Fabian knowing he can run over and help but simply not being able to is just so painful.

“Usually I drive an automatic. This is...also an automatic but it’s slightly different.” (Gorgug, zero judgement: Oh, OK.)

“You’re rich, I’m not. Help me.”

Man, D&D y’all. Can you imagine how differently this story could be going if they’d just gone straight to Falinel and not stopped in Leviathan? At the very least, Fabian’s arc would be going very differently.

And speaking of, Fabian is still having such a rough go at it. Having another fight in two days where he was basically reduced to firing a crossbow once and retreating while his allies got smacked down must have been rough. And now he’s got to go straight into another emergency situation with basically no downtime. This isn’t gonna be good for his psyche. Maybe there’s someone at his mom’s old stomping grounds that can help him get on the road to a better headspace. Or maybe he’ll end up in a situation where he has to step up or something will die and he’ll go with option A. Or maybe Lou will sell his soul for dice powers like Allie did. Only time will tell.

Kristen and Fabian are bagging on Gilear. The camera shifts slightly to the left and he’s standing barely 5 feet away from them.

Also, I love the detail of Garthy’s aura around the Gold Gardens softening Fig’s deafen curse on Gilear.

Adaine blowing all her spell slots to be as annoying as possible is so on brand. Adaine is so funny to me because, on a normal day, she’s the most polite and easiest to deal with Bad Kid but she is just as prone to childish taunting or dedicating her life to making yours a living hell if given half a reason.

Loved Ally’s callback to the “this is also a forest” metaphor from a few eps back.

Again, just to make sure no one is blindsided, we have one more episode to go before the Holiday break. I estimate they the kids probably won’t get to Adaine in that time or will just barely get to her with little time to interact (though D&D is hard to predict due to the high probability of unexpected player moves). Anyway, my point is, I’m bracing for a maddening cliffhanger between the next ep and the one after that.

Riz and Cathilda both got Nat 20s this episode. Fabian, Gorgug, and Adaine all got Nat 1s (1 apiece) and Brennan as I think Wicklaw got 2 Nat 1s.

#fantasy high #fantasy high live #dimension 20 #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high live spoilers #report card

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jq37 · 5 years

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i know you posted your thoughts on the big arguing scene in “we need to talk about pete” but i was wondering if you were going to post a full breakdown? that episode was a lot and i love hearing your thoughts on eps. ignore this if you have done a breakdown and i’m dumb and just missed it lol

**spoilers for the war of bugs and rats and we need to talk about pete**

What’s up denizens of Magic NYC? Now, I unfortunately live in normal NYC where I have to pay bills and stuff so I’ve been MIA with recaps for the past few eps but, no sweat. We’re gonna do a double feature of the above two eps and then I’ll group in the last battle episode with the upcoming episode. So lets catch up on what’s been going on in The Unsleeping City There’s a LOT to get through so vámanos y'all.

First up, we have our big bug fight in Queens, which Sophie enters with a camelback full of box wine because Emily is Emily.

“I’ve heard of gentrification but this is crazy!”

Brennan enjoys making those gross, chittering, bug noises way too much.

Have we talked about Pete’s cowboy hat? Because, for real, what is up with Pete’s cowboy hat? It seems absolutely apropos of nothing. Was he just like, “Sick,” and he decided to wear it everywhere? That seems to be how he makes all of his decisions.

“Butthole 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

Emily clocks the cat *immediately*. Like to the point where I’m almost thinking, “Did this cat exist before Emily mentioned looking for one?” And I want to say yes because La Gran Gata seems very fleshed out, specific, and intentional. But folks, we are living in a post-Avanash world so idk what to think. (Edit: The cat does have a mini now that I’ve gotten to that but idk, that insert shot could have been shot post ep so like, who knows?)

Anyway, Emily’s entire mission objective immediately becomes saving this cat she’s vaguely aware of.

“5E you crazy.”

The Cast, Knowing Emily just rolled a 25 and still has a 1d8 Bless in Her Back Pocket if She Needs It: Brennan, Just Ask.

The horror on Emily’s face when she realizes that she just called an attack on the cat cocoon.

So Emily goes off on a very Emily side quest to rescue a random cat but happens to unlock a very cool NPC–La Gran Gata–who is like the spirit of all the bodega cats out there. Sophie immediately calls upon the entirety of her limited Spanish skills to try and make friends with the cat, and succeeds.

The, “To arms, to arms my brothers!” thing kills me every time. Are all rats just Like That? Is that what they’re like when they’re out and about too?

Kingston rolling a nat 20 to literally walk across the store is wild.

Oh also, Pete failed a wild magic surge roll which just lets him fly. So far, those wild magic surges have really been working out for him.

Anyway, Bug Boss Becky turns Ricky into a “buff-ass” dog.

Zac playing dog-Ricky with almost exactly the same self-awareness (or lack thereof) as normal-Ricky is so funny. He’s an Akita and I was expecting Dalmatian but that makes sense too. Ricky, the very good boy, attacks Becky and–as a Sentinel–stops her in her tracks.

Emily does a ton of damage and Brennan, about to describe her attack, is like, “Are you still drunk?” Emily shuts down the opportunity to look cooler and is like, “I am a messy, drunk bitch. Describe that.” Emily isn’t here to be cool. Emily is here to roleplay.

I had never heard the word brindled before now and Brennan uses it to describe two separate animals in this ep.

Siobhan rolls a nat 20 to dispel magic on Ricky which is objectively good but also I would have loved for him to be a dog a little longer. Also, this moment makes me really, really want to get some backstory on Misty. Like, clearly there are some serious Fae Shenanigans going on with her and I need specifics yesterday.

Also, Ricky comes back with pointier ears and wolfier senses and I’m just picturing Channing Tatum in Jupiter Ascending.

Before I forget, Sophie, Pete, and Misty yoink magical items from the magic bodega within the bodega La Gran Gata opened up. Sophie’s is a magic ring that amps up her punches. Misty took a mirror and Pete took a grill (like for your teeth). Not sure what those do yet.

The fact that this whole fight wasn’t under the Umbral Arcana and there are people out there that remember is a little concerning for me. I can’t quite tell if it’s the sort of thing that will come back or more of a warning of what can happen if the U.A. goes down again.

Post-fight, Sophie asks La Gran Gata for mismatched David Bowie eyes like the cat has. Siobahn goes, “That’s what you’re gonna ask? You drunk bitch.” But Sophie has her wish granted. I’m sure that won’t raise any questions with people who have known her her entire life.

“She’s gonna fuck that cat.”

So the fight’s over and they realize that the Key to the City is missing which I can’t imagine is a good thing.

This brings us to the RP ep, We Need to Talk About Pete, which picks up directly where the previous ep ended.

Ally and Emily go for the exact same joke of getting Guinness’s post-fight. Kingston–as a medical professional, Vox Populi, and sanest adult of this troupe–loudly objects (smacking the beers out of Pete’s hands multiple times) and wants to know what the hell is going on with the bugs they just fought.

Sidenote: Sophie took a level in Warlock with La Gran Gata as her patron because of *course* she did. I wonder if this was the plan from the beginning or if Emily was watching all her friends spellcasting and started getting the jitters from magic user withdrawal.

Murph’s “What?” face when Emily says, “I’ll be waiting, but not in an impatient, desperate way,” is gold.

They search the bodega and find a thing of 1000 Hour Energy and Kugrash gives it to Ricky over Pete’s objections. They also find Holy Grail Laundry Detergent (Kingston pays for it), The Grill I mentioned earlier (Kingston hates this), and this bagel.

All the magic users show up. Alejandro wants an explanation pronto and everyone points a finger at Pete who explains everything in his typical, nonchalant, vague, kinda spaced out way which Alejandro is not digging at all. He starts to go off on the enormity of the situation and Pete starts dropping acid.

I’m gonna stop here for a sec to talk about how Ally is playing Pete. There are moments when I feel like Ally is doing something as a comedian for a bit. And there’s kind of a sense of, is this funny? Obviously. But what are the in game implications of this move? Like the running joke of Pete constantly being high on something is funny, out of game. But, in game, it’s massively concerning. And I’m really curious about where Ally is choosing to draw the line between doing the funny thing and doing the prudent thing. I almost said the in-character thing but Ally made a character so consistently bonkers that whatever he does could plausibly be the in-character thing. Pete is kind of a massive disaster.

Anyway, Alejandro drives home the point that Pete’s actions have consequences and have caused actual deaths at this point. Pete’s magic is internally going wonky as he gets more distressed (I really wanted to see a wild magic surge fail here but alas). But he’s still outwardly like a 4 on the giving a damn scale when the situation is a 13 out of 10. Pete is only half listening to this because he’s halfway out the door, smoking. Alejandro plans with Kingston to discuss Pete later.

Misty, always sowing seeds of chaos, suggests Alejandro stock up on Juul pods before they stop selling them completely. Kingston hates this (this is basically his mood for the episode).

Outside, Pete gets a text from Priya which ends with them planning a meet up for later after leaving her on read for a while. Pete dips without saying anything to anyone but Kingston who ignores him (and also Sophie who Emily hilariously guilts Ally into including out of character). Dipping on the conversation about how to fix YOUR mess isn’t the wisest move but Pete isn’t the wisest guy.

In the meantime, Ricky does the Twilight Bark to summon a dalmatian (yes!) to help him find the stolen key to the city. Kugrash turns into a busted ass dalmatian who has trouble keeping up.

Ricky doesn’t have the plate mail armor that usually makes a Paladin so unstealthy but he is so hot as to have the same lack of stealthiness which is one of my favorite adaptations of the game for this setting. Anyway, Ricky does the superhero thing of running through the city, helping everyone with a problem along the way, and loses the key in the Financial District which smells like death (feels about right).

Siobahn playing Misty as, “Oh, I can’t believe I didn’t realize it was Emma Lazarus,” when, in reality, she was the first person who made the connection was great. S/o to ppl who separate player and character knowledge. Misty partied w/ Emma of course because she partied with every historical figure that’s passed through NYC since she showed up.

Post adventure, people need to go to their day jobs. Misty has a +10 to performance but rolling a 3 is rolling a 3. It’s not her best work. Later, her assistant brings her holly, silver, and assorted other stuff which sounds like Fae BS if I’ve ever heard it. Misty cuts her off before she can elaborate more. I know we’re getting a secret spilling episode next time so I’m really hoping we get some Misty lore because she is being frustratingly cagey. She talks so much but says so little that means anything.

Kugrash sneaks into his son David’s house (while Emily learns a rat fact she clearly didn’t want to know) and Murph and Brennan tag team go for the proverbial emotional jugular.

Murph rolls a nat 20 on his investigate and so he gets a lot of his old files and puts together that Robert is Robert Moses–a famous historical figure in NY who I actually heard about for the first time very recently. Or maybe I should say infamous. He did a lot with NY infrastructure–especially highways–(Emily connects this to the Highway Hex immediately) and he wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type. His bread and butter was working the system. There’s a Pulitzer winning book called The Power Broker about how he was able to amass power and influence. I don’t know enough about NY history to run my mouth off about the guy but the little I do know is in character with his T.U.S. incarnation. Also, just FYI, irl this dude died in the 80s. So, you know. That’s interesting.

Brennan, I guess: Why invent new bad guys when history is full of terrible people I just have to give magic to?

Brennan, continuing his tradition of letting people get emotionally destroyed by nat 20s, has Murph find a crushing letter from David to Kug which was never mailed.

Note: So, as I was writing this, my video timed out right at the line, “I don’t expect this letter to find you before my funeral,” which is kinda good bc idk if this is what I need at 1 AM. Anyway, back to the pain.

The letter reveals that David has devoted his life to stopping crooks like him (Kug) and that he’s mostly upset about how his leaving has affected the younger, more fragile Wally.

“I leave the letter because I’ll remember it.” Yeah I bet you will.

It looks like Kug is gonna confront Wally next ep which I am now even more excited to see.

So let’s move onto the SECOND big gut-punch of the episode. Kingston goes down to the station to give a statement about the Santa Incident. He sees a shit elemental in a lineup which isn’t super relevant to the main events but I can’t not mention something like that.

Anyway, guess what? Kingston’s ex (Liz) isn’t dead! She’s an attorney for the justice system of The Unsleeping City and she’s pissed the hell off. During their interview, he stops the tape recorder to cuss out Kingston for going on a “date” with Misty and for getting her involved in all the magical junk which means she has to do things like fingerprint shit elementals instead of being on track to be D.A. like she originally was. The way she described it made it sound like she was press ganged into it which seems like it shouldn’t be how this works, you know? Is there no blue pill option here? Also, not to be all grass is greener but I actually am a lawyer in NY (closer to Kug’s job, minus the crime) and I would swap with Liz in a heartbeat.

The fact that anything Kingston says as Vox is per se admissible is a cool detail.

Sophie fights an old man (Jackson) in a CVS and joins a monastery which sounds like a shitpost but it isn’t. With La Gran Gata’s blessing she is now a member of the Order of the Concrete Fist.

I saw the Staten Island joke coming the second Brennan started talking but it was still hysterical when it landed.

At the same time, Pete is getting knuckle tats because, sure. And he also goes to see Priya who I am baffled was with him for any length of time. Maybe it’s the artist thing?

Also, Sophie keeps postponing her meeting with Mario which is concerning to me. The story is still happening when you’re not interacting with it. Brennan specifically said when she texted him that she got no response which doesn’t make me feel good about what’s going on with him.

Ricky has three super jacked, fratty firefighter bros, all named John who are like woke as hell. I wish I could follow the dude around for a day because every single facet of his life is wild.

Well, this episode promised we were gonna talk about Pete so let’s talk about Pete.

The gang, sans Pete, meet up with the magical powers that be to discus the destruction the newest Vox his leaving in his wake.

Sidenote, wild that Sophie has been magic for like 15 minutes and got to go to this meeting.

Alejandro wants to know what the plan is for if Pete’s powers go off the rails again. Kingston, who has clearly seen Old Yeller, offers the most drastic solution immediately: if it comes to it, we take him out. (Cut to Ally’s “Yikes” face). Kug, Sophie, and Ricky push back on that.

Misty, hilariously (and also suspiciously), is mainly concerned about NY because she needs theater to keep happening. This woman is chaotic something and I’m not convinced it’s chaotic good yet.

Anyway, I already did my big write-up on this part of the episode, but I’ll say it again: Kingston is right. He’s harsh but he’s right. This is some Phoenix Force BS that’s happening and do you know how that arc ends (the OG one, not the million other Phoenix Sagas that have happened since)? It ends with Jean Grey killing herself so she doesn’t lose control and eat another planet. Ricky is too dangerous for his own good and he doesn’t seem to have the emotional maturity to care (or at least to care at the correct level). Like, he was a drug dealer when this started which is already not ideal. He caused a huge mess and then just bounced without trying to help fix it. He thought that a week was enough time for human casualties to be water under the bridge. Frankly, not considering the nuclear option and just having to figure out if killing him is something the group is willing to do on the fly would be the more irresponsible option.

And not including Pete in the discussion would bother me more if he hadn’t openly blown off every serious discussion people have tried to have with him so far. If he’s not going to take things seriously, it makes sense they don’t invite him to the serious discussions.

The version of this story where Pete accidentally gets a bunch of people killed, finds out what he did, cries about it for a full day, and then finds out they’re talking about possibly killing him is a story where Pete is more sympathetic imo. But still, finding out that people talked about killing you under any circumstances has got to be rough.

IMO, the order of things that should be done right now are (1) putting magical training wheels on Pete, (2a) getting Pete trained or his powers transferred if it’s possible/he wants out, (2b) either way, getting Pete into therapy (like, he needed therapy before he got magic. now it’s just a matter of life and death–besides just his own), (3) talking to Pete again about the stakes and telling him point blank but not in while heated that there’s the possibility of a scenario where his powers go out of control and you have to understand that at that point it’s a matter of saving as many lives as possible. Like, Kingston can say, with conviction, “If I go rogue, you should do the same to me.” They’re in the same boat. Kingston’s just been rowing longer. Well, similar boats anyway. I imagine the Vox Populi powers are less inherently chaotic. And maybe the knowledge that a nuclear option is on the table would make Pete not want the job or want him to have his powers muted or something. Cool. Then you have that discussion at that point. Just, these are the conversations that need to happen. And maybe his own mortality will be the thing that helps get Pete’s head in the game.

What jewel did Ale take out of his pocket during this conversation? Taking note of that. (Juul, not jewel. Duh. Thx thethief )

Pete gets in touch w/ Alejandro’s granddaughters who tell him that Alejandro’s still pretty pissed (which is surprising to Pete but like, bro. People died). Then, Robert shows up to sweet talk Pete and show him the video (that he somehow has) of Kingston talking at the Pete Meeting. When I was watching this the first time I was like, “How long before this blows up in their face–oh, almost immediately. Cool.”

He takes Pete to his vampire nightclub and hits him with Pete’s own “I didn’t create the demand” line that you just know Brennan put a pin in to hit Pete with that Uno Reverse card.

Robert tries to get Pete to summon Nod and then just does it forcibly with some kind of blood magic when Pete is hesitant. Pete wild magic surges, kills a bunch of vamps, and Nod (super injured by being in the waking world) teleports them both to the subway.

The group (including Alejandro) meets them there so they can catch the L train to Nod but Epona shows up. And you already know from Fantasy High that Brennan is on the ACAB train (or is that AFCAB?). Epona is now wearing a crooked badge–crooked badge for a crooked cop. She wants Nod. No can do. The gang gets ready to–to quote Mr. Cubby-make some bacon while Alejandro tries to cast a spell to summon a train to Nod (the place not the person).

So I’ll see y’all next time (whenever that is) for some subway fighting and some backstory unlocking!

#asks #bbistrashbutwhatevs #dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20

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