#prudence lark

[reloha]

Penelope Featherington and the Quality of Friendship

If Penelope used her wit, even her cruel wit, but any wit, more, out loud in front of the ton, she would have suitors. Philippa found a suitor over cheese, for pity’s sake. “Lady Whistledown’s“ plant puns received praise from her sister’s suitor. Prudence is having trouble because she has neither wit nor wits, not because she is too mean (and they’re all sabotaged by their mother’s “cutting edge” fashion taste). The man Eloise danced with, whom she called out for trying to “not-like-other-girls" her, would probably have gone crazy for mean Penelope. If Penelope were as vocally, publicly mean as Cressida, she would either be in her group or smashing that group. (I am not saying that being mean in public would have been the best of Penelope's available choices, but it would be more honest and, ironically, do less damage.)

Her mother pays only the most cursory lip service to Penelope’s getting married and has probably already begun to think of her as the daughter who will stay with her through her old age. But if Penelope allowed herself to speak and let either her nice or sharp sides (or both) be seen by more people, there would be suitors.

Alas, then she would have to consider other possibilities besides her long-time crush (or love, look at it how you will), and that is what she is most afraid of doing. She cannot let go of the dream of Colin, and so she embraces Whistledown, at first perhaps as a one-time lark (she tries to get out of debuting, remember, but her ability to obtain content for her “blog,” her “great” life’s work, becomes intrinsically tied to being in society). This (possible) lark becomes an identity, perhaps her truest identity, one that allows her wicked thoughts a free rein. Yet Cressida Cowper, the person outside of her family who has the best claim to be Penelope's nemesis, is rarely seen in the Whistledown papers as far as the audience can divine, except for the occasional knock on her fashion choices (with bonus slut shaming). The one time that springs to mind is aimed at running a modiste out of business to curry favor with another modiste, Mme. Delacroix, all in order to eliminate a perceived threat to Whistledown and gain leverage over Delacroix to obtain her assistance with—you guessed it—errands for Whistledown.

At first, Penelope uses Whistledown to lift the Bridgertons up. They are a family of “perfectly handsome sons and perfectly beautiful daughters.” If the audience never finds out who Whistledown is, it scarcely seems to matter at this point; she could just be one of any number of anonymous people in the ton and not part of the story at all. Whistledown uplifts Daphne at her debut. It is Whistledown, not the Queen, who names Daphne “a diamond of the first water” (something apparently forgotten in season two).

But then Anthony gets in the way of Daphne’s suitors, and perhaps Eloise offhandedly mentions it to Penelope (“I can’t think why she wants to deal with them anyway but Anthony is being overbearing” or similar), and Penelope realizes she can criticize Daphne, the pretty Bridgerton who apparently never thought of being friends with her or guiding her. Or the sister Eloise is kind of annoyed with (but would never really want to see hurt, which one would think Penelope has to realize). According to Daphne, Lady Whistledown all but declares her “unmarriageable,” a devastating fate for most Regency ladies and something Penelope fears herself to be. Lady Whistledown is powerful, and Penelope has gotten a taste for that power.

Penelope has crossed over into Whistledown’s dark side as early as this, striking out at someone she perceives as being above her and cutting her down to size. (In the books, nothing on this level occurs, although one cannot go so far as to say Lady Whistledown is a benign force there.) Yes, on the show, she is willing to “help out” by printing the Berbrooke gossip, but is she helping out? It makes good copy for her. It’s actually something of a scoop. But what if it were a lie? Has Lady Whistledown ever fact checked any of the things she has heard people talk about? How, even, could she?

For some reason, she begins to take shots at the Queen, a reckless and nonsensical thing to do. The Queen may have some input with the Prince Regent (this is never clear in Bridgerton but in the prequel-sequel-spinoff series, Queen Charlotte, we see it played out at least on a personal level), but her domain is the social season, and she has the time at least to set others on Whistledown’s trail. And what has Charlotte done to Penelope? Someone posted that the Queen looked at her with disgust (she wasn’t impressed with the three Featheringtons’ joint debut, perhaps, but that was hardly directed at Penelope personally).

While in her first season, Penelope tries to be a little discreet about her secret identity, in her second season, she becomes more obvious. When someone in a group of girls says that Whistledown will not write anything because they are all in the country, Penelope asks if she thinks so and smiles a secretive smile that could not be more blatant.

Lady Bridgerton puts Eloise and Penelope into that group of girls hoping Eloise, and perhaps Penelope too, will make more friends. Eloise asks why the girls can’t say no to their mothers’ edicts regarding suitors and is met with shocked looks. (Eloise is criticized online for this as well, for this apparently means she is inconsiderate of these girls who cannot on any account question anything, but it is entirely possible that one or two of them thought about this later and their lives were changed in even small ways by it. The idea that every woman in the Regency era never questioned anything or did anything is not true anyway, and, if it were, this is still Regency fantasy, even without dragons.)

Neither Eloise nor Penelope makes a new friend. For Penelope, who secretly longs to be part of the social life of the ton, not on the outskirts, this is a huge missed opportunity, if only she would realize it. In addition to friendship to offer, some of these girls probably have brothers or cousins or even a young uncle whom they could introduce to Penelope or even to her annoying sister, Prudence. Perhaps more importantly, Penelope might begin to see the other girls as people, not just fodder for her society pages, and she might come out into the light instead of remaining in the shadows with Lady Whistledown. But she might have to let go of the dream of Colin, the thing she most dreads doing, the thing she cannot bear to do.

When Edwina exchanges a few pleasantries with Penelope, Penelope could also use that as a springboard for a friendship, but she instead walks off to talk with Colin and never sends a note to Edwina or makes any attempt at friendship, even when Edwina is spending a great deal of time with the Bridgertons. Eloise appears to have the beginning of a friendship, or at least a mutual admiration society, with Edwina’s sister, Kate. The only friends Penelope appears to want are Eloise and Colin, and she gets annoyed when the former interrupts her while she is talking with the latter, but she never takes the step of sharing her feelings for Colin with Eloise. Although Eloise might have been puzzled by those feelings had she done so, it is difficult to believe she would be anything other than supportive of her friend, as she was when she divined that Penelope enjoyed all the parties and social whirl—the opposite of what Penelope does for Eloise when she confides her burgeoning feelings to Theo.

There may be several issues of her paper that only reveal engagements prior to the official announcements or critique fashion choices, including the Featheringtons’ (which would work to her benefit if her mother would pay attention—unfortunately, she can’t just write “Penelope Featherington looks better in pink, Lady Featherington”), and maybe she doesn’t write about couples sneaking off to the coat closet, but she is not kind. She does not wield her considerable power to help anyone unless it is in Whistledown’s best interest and will sell more papers or in line with Penelope’s current agenda, the things she believes will achieve what she wants. Breaking up Marina and Colin, getting Eloise away from the print shop and her trail, not letting Eloise do a mock version of Whistledown because Whistledown is hers—these are Penelope’s goals at different points. Penelope could tell Eloise the truth about Marina (at least Marina would not have been publicly shamed and maybe the Bridgertons would have even helped her in some way) before writing about her, the truth about Whistledown before writing about Eloise, but she does not. Before writing about Eloise, she could go to the Queen and confess. She does not.

Penelope claims, rather disingenuously and conveniently, that the Queen will never believe her. It is absurd to think Penelope has left no trail, no evidence that she is Whistledown. Even if she has burned all her drafts after sending the final to the printer’s, the printer will remember her as the person who came to make arrangements in the guise of an Irish servant (particularly as she spoke quite insultingly to him). The Queen can’t execute anyone. She could hire an assassin, in theory, but this isn’t Game of Thrones and Charlotte isn’t a monster. Penelope could go to the Queen and offer to work with her. She could confess to Eloise before Eloise figures it out, and they could come up with a plan together. She could just take the consequences of what she has done and live with them. She had other choices besides throwing her friend under the omnibus (which didn’t exist yet, but, oh, well) to “save” her.

Penelope could confess to the Queen and offer to prove she is Whistledown by having the Queen give her a false piece of gossip and allowing herself to be placed in a room in the palace while she writes it up as a mock Whistledown column. Surely Penelope is clever enough to do that, isn’t she?

Penelope tells Mme. Delacroix that the Queen wants to be flattered, so Penelope knows this. She knows the Queen isn’t out to destroy Whistledown. She could write an issue with something flattering the Queen, but she doesn’t. She writes a post that will separate Eloise from someone she has come to care for and from the people who are not rich but want to do something in the world.

For Eloise to have a cross-class love interest is not madness, although unusual in the world of the story. Theo is a printer’s apprentice and a writer who could very well own his own business someday, and Eloise is working on a novel, or at least was in season one. Both of them could be published someday beyond political pamphlets, although those are fine too. (And, yes, Penelope and Colin both write too.)

Of course, this wouldn’t make Theo a “gentleman” by the definition of the time, but Lady Mary wed a man who was not in the ton, and, although she hoped her daughters would not have to choose between love and security, it is doubtful that she regretted her choice. Her husband also wound up with a very good job in India as secretary to a royal family, and, had he died later, their financial circumstances might have been better. It seems as if Lady Mary's parents refused to put a brave face on things and instead hid away, but the Queen’s only rebuke for Lady Mary is that she did not say goodbye to her, not that she married “down” or against her family’s wishes. Eloise’s family would probably not refuse to see her as the Sheffields did with Lady Mary if she were to marry "down" (Daphne could remind Violet that she said she wished for Daphne to have the very best, not in rank but in love), and not being invited to society parties would hardly be a loss to Eloise.

Many of the people who say this would ruin her younger sisters' chances also argue that every scandal the Bridgertons go through is short-lived (which is somewhat the case) and they can never be truly ruined. (Although it’s unlikely the show will go the Theo route, more's the pity, if it were to do so, one would expect this to be a long enough road that Francesca's first marriage would already have happened, and we know her second husband wouldn't care about her sister's so-called scandal anyway. And Hyacinth, well, Hyacinth is rather similar to Eloise in many ways.)

Theo was an important friendship to Eloise and going to those meetings an important part of her growth, facts Penelope would realize about her friend if she would listen to her instead of gaslighting her.

But Eloise is not Penelope’s best friend. Penelope’s best friend is Lady Whistledown. It is Lady Whistledown whom Penelope protects, and she is the one to whom Penelope always turns when she has a problem. She scarcely shares a problem with Eloise outside of her confusion about where babies come from. She never comes to Eloise about her father’s death (which, to be fair, scarcely seems to faze her, and that is probably understandable); about Marina, the only other person who is close to being Penelope’s friend (and it can’t be because she respects Marina’s secret); about her feelings for Colin; about how to get her mother off this yellow kick. When Eloise asks her about herself, Penelope almost invariably changes the subject. There is one memorable and revealing conversation while they lie on the grass in which Penelope extols the joys and power of not being seen, of being invisible, of being a wallflower. It’s a fascinating speech, and she has every opportunity to tell Eloise about Whistledown after it, for good or ill, to ‘fess up, but she doesn't. Instead, she continues down her dark path.

By the end of the season, Penelope has destroyed her friendship with Eloise, and she has had her illusions of Colin destroyed by overheard words (not staying long enough to hear what follows, whether it’s “Penelope deserves better than me” or “Penelope is like a sister to me” or "Who would want to court Penelope?"). Her bridges are effectively burned and to rebuild them would take meticulous care, diligent work, and more than a little self-reflection, as well as attempts at apology and amends.

Lady Whistledown is the only friend Penelope has left.

Special thanks to @dollypopup and @torchwood-99, who have written so many thoughtful posts.

#anti Penelope Featherington #not really but close enough #Bridgerton spoilers #Bridgerton opinions #this got long #Bridgerton #Bridgeverse #Eloise Bridgerton but kind of incidentally #Penelope villain arc

[theultimateshowdownofpapalouie]

Hello! Welcome to the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Papa Louie!!

My name is Miles (@sunsetcorvid ) and I am here to offer a tournament of the best Papa Louie character!!!

There are 204 characters in my google doc. A majority of which have flipdeck cards. This post may update before the tournament date with more characters without flipdeck cards. I will randomize pairs and put them against one another. All characters range from each Papa Louie game, and I mean each one.

Only one will remain.

There will not be a bracket, as there are many characters and it stresses me out trying to make something as big as that. So, it will be a surprise on which ones are paired up.

I made this for fun and I hope yall have fun, too!!

We will begin May 15th.

Below are the list of characters.

Wally

Jojo

Kingsley

Pizza Monsters

Quinn

Timm

Sarge

Sarge Fan

Little Edoardo

Papa Louie

Roy

Captain Cori

Gino Romano

Big Pauly

Party Subs

Greg

Marty

Hank

Nick

Rico

Foodini

Yippy

The Onion Ring

Kahuna

Doan

Olga

The Tomatoes

Georgito

Mindy

Boomer

Penny

Bruna Romano

Akari

Pinch Hitwell

Carlo Romano

Johnny

Clover

Hugo

Allan

James

Zoe

Mitch

Connor

Utah

Robby

Rita

Radley Madish

Shannon

Kenji

Wendy

Dill Weeds

Tony Solary

Matt Neff

Prudence

Alberto

Burgerzilla

Peggy

Taylor

Cheddar Macks

Santa

Sliders

Professor Fitz

Scarlett

Awesome Saucer

Edna

Bacoburn

Vicky

Pepper Jack

Maggie

Cooper

Willow

Mandi

Radishes

Chuck

Cheese Wheel

Scooter

Lettuce Lark

Radlynn

Blue Shroom

Cletus

Dill Worms

Ninjoy

Crystal

Jellybacks

Gremmie

Swiss Zack

Lisa

Brussel Larks

Deano

Dill Wheels

Ivy

Luau LePunch

Mary

Sundaesaurus

Mayor Mallow

Thorn Shroom

Nevada

Rocky Road

Bertha

Gummeel

Hacky Zak

Cooladas

Sue

Mallow Men

Kayla

Powseekers

Iggy

Kaiser Onion

Tohru

Cherry Bombs

Rudy

Xandra

Brownie Bop

Ember

Mr. Sherbet

Rhonda

Splashberry Derps

Franco

Sasha

Spearmint

Trishna

Julep

Disco Plumm

Chester

Cecilia

Betty Pecan

Joy

Brody

Cookie Doughmen

Sienna

Clair

Hucklebat

Austin

Skyler

Winter Onion

Whiff

Perri

Chip McMint

Duke Gotcha

Janana

Strawbuzzy

Guy Mortadello

Cherrisa

Jill Berry

Olivia

Vincent

Scuba Radish

Emmlette

Ripley

YUM n’ Ms

Xolo

Wylan B

Banana Pants

Koilee

LePete

Swizzlers

Cameo

Chocomint

Indigo

Gummy Onions

Moe

Fernanda

Coco Cooladas

Mousse

Whippa

Bow Shroom

Skip

Mangoby

The Dynamoe

Liezel

BotWursts

Mr. Bombolony

Okalani

Drakson

Evelyn

Boopsy and Bill

Kasey O

Chase

Daniela

Rollie

Sprinks the Clown

C.J. Friskins

Simone

Didar

Budwin

Treble

Yuko

Amiria

Isadora

Petrona

Pally

Kaleb

Makaila

Lloyd

Steven

Elle

Mesa

Bonnie

Kenton

Hope

Nye

Yalanda

Gabitha

Numarcus

#character tournament #papa louie #flipline studios #papa's cluckeria #papa's pastaria #papa's wingeria #papa's freezeria #papa's sushiria #papa's scooperia #papa's bakeria #papa's hot dogeria #papa's taco mia #papa's burgeria #papa's mocharia #papa's pancakeria #papa's cupcakeria #introductory post

[victoriams]

certain things were undeniably true – that the sky was blue, or that grass was green. or that, perhaps, probably, most certainly – she loves Krishna more than anybody else she’d ever met. And that this fact would remain her own – to be held in her hands and softly tended to in secret, but never to be uttered aloud / there was not much else that could make krish feel so elated as making prudence smile. if the both of them had not devoted their entire lives to this cause, where lives hang in the balance daily, she might have devoted hers to the simplicity of making her smile the way she had growing up.

@reblrths

the bully, sophie lark / i hope you think of me, lily williams / unknown / nox, anne carson / coldbrewslut on tumblr / close to me, monica murphy / unknown / heather, conan gray / unknown / unknown / k.a.t / triple dog dare, lucy dacus / the reader, bernhard schlink / unknown / a letter to albert camus, maría casares / seven, taylor swift / unknown / herakles, euripides / blue, dir. hiroshi ando / strawberry blonde, mitski / joseph e. morris / unknown / unknown / vivadrag on instagram / transsexualists on twitter / you are jeff, richard siken (but i changed it) / she-ra and the princesses of power (2018-2020) / a letter to ernest hemingway, agnes von kurowsky / susie save your love, allie x and mitski / unknown / about the days, joshua beckman / unknown / the complete poems of anna akhmatova, anna akhmatova / graceland too, phoebe bridgers / unknown / brutal prince, sophie lark / unknown / enough for you, maisie peters / trista mateer / let you break my heart again, laufey / pride and prejudice, dir. joe wright / tender is the night, f. scott fitzgerald / sacred woman, queen afua / bipdf on tumblr / unknown / jonnysun on twitter / unknown / eurydice, sarah ruhl / anna laura art / we’re in love, boygenius / unknown / i will, mitski / enilehtnorevol on twitter / eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, dir. michel gondry / everywhere everything, noah kahan / unknown / a letter to paul celan, ingeborg bachmann / the maddest obsession, danielle lori / moon song, phoebe bridgers / just the two of us, grover washington jr. art by rosabienfuerte on tumblr 

#prudence – 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 #prudence & krishna – 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 #mj.task #does it still count if its 15 years late and way too long yes/no #with. nazanin

[crazydreamercycle]

A catalogue of names that are just straight up normal words

Female

Acacia

Amber

Amethyst

Amity

Anemone

Anise

April

Aria

Aspen

Aster

Aura

Aurora

Autumn

Avalon

Avril (April, French)

Azalea

Azure

Bee

Beryl

Blanche (White, French)

Blondie

Blossom

Brandy

Bunny

Burgundy

Cadence

Calanthe

Calla

Camellia

Candy

Caprice

Chalice

Charisma

Charity

Chastity

Cherish

Cherry

Clarity

Clematis

Clemency

Columbine

Comfort

Coral

Coriander

Crystal

Daffodil

Dahlia

Daisy

Dawn

Delight

Delta

Destiny

Diamond

Dot

Dove

Dream

Easter

Ebony

Eglantine

Emerald

Epiphany

Essence

Fae

Faith

Fancy

Fawn

Felicity

Fern

Flower

Gay

Genesis

Genie

Gill

Ginger

Glory

Grace

Harmony

Hazel

Heather

Heaven

Holly

Honey

Honour

Hope

Hyacinth

Iris

Ivy

Jacinth

Jasmine

Jonquil

Journey

Joy

July

June

Kay

Kitty

Lacy

Lark

Laurel

Lavender

Liberty

Lilac

Lily

Lotus

Love

Magnolia

Maple

Marigold

May

Meadow

Melody

Mercy

Merry

Minty

Miracle

Missy

Misty

Modesty

Monday

Myrtle

Nan

Nanny

Olive

Opal

Paisley

Pansy

Patience

Peace

Pearl

Pen

Penny

Peony

Petal

Petunia

Piety

Piper

Pleasance

Poppy

Porsche

Posy

Precious

Primrose

Princess

Prissy

Queen

Rainbow

Rose

Rosemary

Rosy

Royalty

Ruby

Rue

Sapphire

Scarlet

Scout

Serenity

Shell

Sherry

Sienna

Spirit

Spring

Star

Sue

Summer

Sunshine

Symphony

Tansy

Tawny

Teal

Temperance

Tempest

Tiara

Topaz

Treasure

Trinity

Unique

Unity

Velvet

Verity

Violet

Willow

Winter

Male

Ace

Archer

Art

August

Baker

Bishop

Blaze

Brand

Brock

Bud

Buddy

Buster

Case

Cash

Chance

Chip

Chuck

Clair (Light/clear, French)

Clay

Clement

Cliff

Colt

Constant

Coy

Crew

Curt

Dane

Deacon

Dean

Den

Drake

Duke

Dutch

Earl

Earnest

Fisher

Fletcher

Flint

Ford

Forest

Foster

Fox

Frank

Garland

Gene

Gore

Grant

Gray

Grey

Griffin

Gunner

Guy

Hale

Hall

Hardy

Heath

Herb

Jack

Junior

Kelvin

King

Kip

Lane

Legend

Leo

Major

Mark

Marshal

Mason

Mat

Merit

Messiah

Miles

Moss

Newt

Noble

Norm

Pace

Peers

Peregrine

Pierce

Piers

Placid

Porter

Prince

Prosper

Ray

Read

Red

Reed

Rich

Ridge

Rob

Rocky

Rod

Roman

Rusty

Satchel

Scott

Shaw

Shepherd

Sly

Smith

Sonny

Spike

Stan

Sterling

Stew

Stone

Tad

Talon

Tanner

Teddy

Tiger

Trace

Van

Walker

Ward

Webster

Will

Wilt

Wolf

Woody

Wright

Unisex

Alpha

Angel

Ash

Berry

Blessing

Briar

Brook

Carol

Cat

Cedar

Christmas

Cyan

Dell

Derby

Dusty

Flick

Fortune

Gale

Garnet

Happy

Harper

Haven

Haze

Honor

Hunter

Indigo

Jade

Jewel

Justice

Kit

Lake

Lucky

Max

Merle

Noel

Ocean

Page

Patsy

Phoenix

Praise

Prudence

Rain

Raven

Reign

River

Rowan

Royal

Sage

Sandy

September

Sequoia

Silver

Sky

Sparrow

Storm

Sunday

Sunny

Temple

Wisdom

#names

[siena-sevenwits]

Thank you for the tag, @informedimagining!

The challenge is to share ten opening lines from your ten most recent fanfictions. I am going to tag anyone who has/is going to find somewhere cozy and read a book tonight.

Pouring drinks without making a mess is difficult in a lurching tower that decides to stand up and take a stroll at odd moments.

Dragonfire.

Though his adventuring cap was dearer, Graham’s cloak was by far the most useful of all his personal possessions.

“It… might help if we knew when we became immortal. And how.”

More than twenty lanterns burn inside the carriage.

“Tell more.”

“Say, Ken,” said Matt, spinning his swivel chair round as the curator stepped into the meeting room, “this is a proper lark, this is."

“I still question the prudence of letting those two in.”

A livid blue light flickers under the king’s door.

Just before the witching hours give out, the cart pulls up to the waystop.

#Thank you! #tag game

[libidomechanica]

Untitled (“Within a losing each our bright”)

—Within a losing each our  bright as pure in you and  in trouble livelier proper plagiarist;  I know transient form and glow to  whom we guess than the sweetly 

doe appears, the somber me? A  flute came across a city from child,  and so last, of things, which  he beast with costly make  this lyke Narcissus vayne to mi, 

say so. Earth do the lark behind a 

bore. One day of error, a  temples twine. And from hill to 

strangled with an upturns round,  I hear a wizard shall had neer sae free 

discussd the leave me not thou, O Lord,  with him oppressd, his native  lea and rose, and loved along the  silence of so fair, I loed hereticks  ordayned: auguste forlorn. Who woman  hands of Lu, sad Chancery, that  was stung the garden  grows for who wrought rathe and speaks of  me: I have her lieth. How euer lies in  me; thine eyes, “I cannot lyfe endure  to be seen; who could  any mothers and thee,” a bastard  vile, and warne to choose beame so fondly  from him with loud and  beauteous stores, in the strings; likewise  louely places of Eighteen,  parents in the dead, long  from the garden terrace range or  rivals in a yard beneath all  one, and hang no more; but your work  of the heart fit to rest  quite in the ungarnerd stalking          

because she graver  Prudence direst boye, how much did sting of  cat or moue her? Tell that same 

statesmen of Poetesses; Clarinda, take  the Sky, the stole over lost  her proud shall for Mornings, and  genial earthly wrought delight, a vanished  to catch her heart, I said, “can  heart did but Zephyrs to end. And  mould ape those who past a spangle act  of immolation of all thing for  they mighty woes, my tear, thrice to  let the sun upon a  day long nods from belt to offer  form, o sacred life. At this Morning,”  and the Nymph! Thought with 

music blend, I mournd his doubt beside  the night, and balmy bread  and Nature of old to catches 

him—one Dagger at his  Throat, consistent; wearie woes a Tragedy,  is it to her error  in this one piece is part, 

can vie with through again,  a looming year; above that deare.

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 6 #132 texts

[treefish]

barley’s come a long way! the exterior of his house is finished and his apple orchard is thriving. his sister prudence came to check out his new home and was a tad bit concerned with the amount of dust bunnies inside... but barley doesn’t mind them! 🐰

#ts4 #prudence lark #i'm so proud of him! #that directly counteracts with his big happy family aspiration so... time to find a partner! #cottage living release gameplay

[rouge-la-flamme]

Saezuri-anon here. Firstly yes the choice was absolutely there for preservation of the lark imagery. Jehan I suspect is in love with Basho, though whether he prefers haikai (haiku) or waka, I'm not wholly certain. Grantaire meanwhile has Views on art styles both ancient and modern. With regards to the art names personal names are over intimate, and family names are (for various reasons) Inadvisable to be shared when speaking politics. Your art is lovely as ever!

Aaaaaaaa, lovely Saezuri-Anon, tumblr neglected to alert me of this message! You find me rushing through a hasty reply, distressed that I must have left this languishing for goodness knows how long. These are excellent points—and as to poetry genres, I have been toying with the idea of renga among the Amis...what do you think? would they have the patience? would they produce comical disaster poems? ^^' (Friends, I have a beautiful book about renga or linked verse: poems that were composed by multiple people, each adding a verse to the poem in turn according to certain rules of composition; and I am shamelessly looking for a place to use this beautiful tradition.)

In particular, a very good point about art names and political prudence! I've also been reading about Edo-era physicians, and I should think that our medically-inclined Amis devour and contribute to the genre of medical literature, and would apply pen names here as well. It seems that physicians favor professional names with a -dō ending? My source complains that it is rather pompous for a young doctor to apply a professional name to his publications, but I could see these confident young men doing just that—particularly if their medical researches are linked to politically dangerous ideas, which is a theme I'm seeing a lot.

Speaking of politics and prudence, I have just now been working on an homage to musical!Enjolras and his red waistcoat, being very unsubtle—let me share a peek with everyone:

The wonderful @lafcadiosadventures shared a picture of a red jinbaori (a jacket worn over armor), and it struck me as an excellent parallel to that incongruous but beloved militaristic waistcoat—though what was meant to be a silly doodle has gotten a little out of hand...

(Intriguingly, I found an article* arguing that such red-waistcoat-esque features as red wool, gold braid, and gold buttons were adopted into jinbaori via Portuguese garments near the start of the Edo period. The red waistcoat and red jinbaori may share aesthetic ancestry!)

* Johannis Tsoumas, "Portuguese ambitions vs Japanese tradition: the transformation of the western civilization artifacts into the multifaceted Nanban objects (1543-1615)."

#asks #les amis #enjolras #les miserables #the japan au

[trans-and-baby-names]

Neutral Names

Ainsley  Alex Alexis  Arden Ari Ariel  Arlo Armani Arwen Arwyn  Ash Ashton Aston Aubrey Austin  Avery

Bailey  Basil Blake  Blue Briar Bronte  Brook Brooke Brooklyn 

Caden  Cadence  Caelan Casey  Cash Cassidy Chandler  Channing Charley Charlie Christmas  Claude Courtney 

Dakota  Danni Danny  Dara Darby Darcy Demi  Demy Des Dorian Drew  

Echo  Eden Elliott

Finn  Finnley  Fionn

Gale  Garnet  Gemini Georgie 

Harley  Harlow Harper  Hayden Hollis Hunter

Izzy

Jade  Jamie Jay  Jayden Jackie  Jean Jewel Jesse  Joaquin Jody Joey  Johnnie Jordan Jordy  Jude Jules Justice 

 

KC  Kai Kaia  Kalani Karma  Kadence Kayden Kendall  Kieran Kiernan Kit Knox Kobe  Kristen 

Lake  Lane Lani  Lark Lauren  Lauren Laurie Layton  Lori Lorie Lavern Lee  Leighton Leilani Lennon  Lennox Leslie Lex Lindsay London  Loren Lou

Mac  Mack Mackenzie  Mak Manny Max Mckinley  Mel Memphis Meredith Merle Micah  Michi Mick Mickey Moe

Nanook  Naomi Nick  Nicky Nico Niko

Oakley  Ocean Odell  Olive Ollie 

Palmer  Paris Parker  Pat Paulie Phoenix Pippin  Presley Prudence 

Quinn  

 

Rain  Rainy Raleigh  Ramsey Raven Reagan Red  Reese Reggie Remi Remy Ren  Ridley Riley Rio Ripley River  Robin Rory Rowan  

Sage  Sal Salem  Sam Sammy Sandy  Sasha Sawyer Sean  Sequoia Shane Shannon  Shay Shayne Shelby Shelley Shelly  Shiloh Silver Sinclair Siri Sky Skylar Sloan  Sol Sonny Spencer Sora Stevie Stormy Sunny Sydney 

Tate  Taylor  Teagan Teddie  Teddy Terry Theo  Tierney Tiger Tobi  Toby Toni Tony Tory Tracy  Tristan Tyler

Val  Valentin  Valentine Valery Vivian

Whitney  Winnie Wolf  Wren  

Yale  Yoshi Yuki  Yuri 

Zenon 

#neutral #neutral names #nonbinary names #nonbinary #trans #trans names #baby names #name advice #name choosing #name help #name ideas #name inspiration #name list #name masterlist #name problems #name struggles #boy names #name suggestions #name search #genderfluid #gender neutral names #gender neutral #gender non binary #agender #androgynous names #androgynous #pet names #dog names #cat names

[the-last-teabender]

FANFIC: Oxventure - Duel Destinies

RATING: G

WORDS: Just under 7k

SUMMARY: Corazón gets hit on the head.

A/N: This isn’t my first time writing fanfic, but it’s my first time in literal decades writing something that a) isn’t going into a charity anthology and b) isn’t single-sentence goofs in my Gchat window with @randomthunk. So I actually am a little nervous to just yeet my work out into the world without an editor/publisher frontline protecting me from looking foolish. I do have plans to fic more tho.

I approached this as though I was writing an official tie-in because that’s my comfort zone (and occasionally my job). Which was a little challenging because there’s a lot that’s not part of the story but is part of the viewing experience. I have not mastered it in one story but the attempt was fun. Also I haven’t smashed alt-codes this obsessively while writing since I wrote about Señor 105.

Thanks aforementioned Ginger for being my beta reader and basically sitting on me to post this instead of hide it in my writing folder.

Anyway, if you like what I’m throwing out here, I have actually a lot of stuff in print and even more coming.

----------

“Right,” Dob said, pacing the length of the deck, “before we go, let’s review. Prudence, what happened yesterday?”

“We found a bad man killing off local slimes to make slime booze.”

“Good. Corazón, what happened yesterday?”

“I began my awesome new career as a detective and threw someone out a window.”

“All right. Merilwen?”

“Mow.”

“Excellent. Egbert?”

“I set a tavern on fire and got my seal very drunk on slime gin.”

“All right, that’s us caught up.”

That wasn’t the entire catch-up, but all of them knew the events of the day before well enough. The forest outside the town of Esterwell was in turmoil, according to the wizard Binbag after he tumbled unexpectedly out of a pantry. It was suddenly bereft of slimes — the cute little blobby creatures generally used for target practice by up-and-coming adventurers. As it happened, slimes had other uses. Serving as the base for a delightful high-end alcoholic brew, for one. Serving as the base of the entire local food chain, for another. If the slime population continued to plummet, eventually the other animal populations would follow suit.

An investigation of the local slime hunters (led by DCI Jeff Crimestopper, a pseudonym Corazón was becoming increasingly attached to) turned up that they were all in the employ of the same man: one Alonzo Horgan, owner of the Horgan Distillery. One especially talkative young hunter revealed that Horgan intended to “wring all the slimes out of Esterwell Forest” before upping sticks to his next hunting ground.

The goal was, in short, to stop Horgan’s machinations before he destabilized the entire local ecosystem and went on to do the same to others. Somewhere along the way, Dob had got it into his head that the goal was to start a brewery of their own and hold a cider-making contest in the Esterwell town square… an idea the group at large now referred to as “Plan C.”

Plan A, currently underway, was to continue the detective lark and either talk sense into Horgan or (more likely) run him out of town. Plan B was burning down the distillery.

“I’m still very much in favor of bumping Plan B up to Plan A,” said Prudence, wiggling her fingers as the group made their way back into Esterwell.

“Mrow,” Merilwen the cat grumbled from Dob’s shoulder, which translated to something like, “But that doesn’t actually solve the problem of making him stop.”

“Oh, fine,” Prudence huffed. “Detectives it is.”

Corazón pumped a fist low and (he thought) out of sight. “DCI Jeff Crimestopper back on the case, bay-bee.”

They arrived at the home of Alonzo Horgan — a palatial manor in a town that really wasn’t the sort to have palatial manors. At least half a dozen residences would have to have been knocked down to make way for the place, which stood half again as high as the buildings around it that had survived.

Merilwen hopped lightly from Dob’s shoulder, turning back into an elf again, as the half-orc tapped politely on the door.

“No, no.” Egbert shoved past him, balling up one scaly fist. “You’ve gotta really punch it.” He slammed his fist against the door several times, making it bow slightly under the pressure.

“Open up!” Corazón shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. “We have a warrant!”

“Don’t just say we have a warrant!” Merilwen hissed.

The door was opened mere moments later by a tall, rail-thin man with an upturned nose and a downturned moustache. “Mmcan I help you?”

Corazón pushed past the man. “Yeah, you can take us to Alonzo Horgan. We’re taking him down to the station for questioning.”

“I’m afraid Mr. Horgan is not—” But the man was cut off as the rest of the group piled past and into the house.

“Where is he, then? Upstairs?” Corazón pointed up the stairwell, one foot on the steps.

The man at the door, to his credit, did his best to maintain his decorum. “Mr. Horgan is not taking visitors.”

“We’re not visitors,” Dob said gruffly, looming over the man, “we’re detectives.”

“Is that so? Well, I do hope you meant what you said about having a warrant. Otherwise I may have to take you to the authorities.” 

Alonzo Horgan’s voice silenced the group, but had it not, his presence would have. Fully six-foot-four, a stocky mix of fat and muscle generally only seen on back alley brawlers, stuffed into a fancy suit. His glare was imperious; his moustache was excellent.

Corazón swiveled and approached the master of the house. “Alonzo Horgan?”

“Yes, I’m… not sure who else I would be.” Horgan seemed put out for a moment, but recovered himself. “May I ask what business you have here?”

“DCI Jeff Crimestopper.” Corazón pulled a piece of paper from his coat, flashed it briefly, and put it away again. “This is my DI, Dob Tyler.”

Dob grinned toothily; had it not been Dob, it might have looked threatening. “Here to make sure my loose cannon superior does things by the book.”

Corazón gestured to the rest of the party. “DS Prudence, DC Merilwen. And, er, PC Egbert, he mostly makes the tea.”

“It’s really good tea,” Egbert piped up.

“No offense, sir…” Horgan gestured to Corazón. “But you look more like a pirate than a detective.”

“Deep cover, obviously. I wouldn’t expect a civilian to understand.”

Horgan waved a hand dismissively. “Even if I were to entertain the idea that you’re who you claim to be, I feel I’ve done nothing to warrant an investigation.”

Merilwen narrowed her eyes. “Nothing, Mr. Horgan?” Her voice was tense, hitting that slightly higher octave that her friends knew meant violence was quickly becoming an option. “Killing off an entire species for your own benefit is ‘nothing’? Allowing the local wildlife to starve is ‘nothing’?”

“Oh, it’s about the distillery, is it? I promise you, my dear, I’ve heard it all before.”

Dob gritted his teeth, giving Horgan a highly dramatic, highly knowing look. “I’d be careful if I was you, sir. DC Merilwen has a license to… er. Bear.”

Still, none of this seemed to faze Horgan. “If you think complaining about my methods is going to have any effect… let me assure you, it hasn’t yet. Now, unless you have any actual business with me…”

Prudence stepped up. “All right, look. Fine. We’re not actually detectives.”

“You don’t say,” Horgan deadpanned.

“That said… the whole slime issue is a real thing, and we really do need you to stop hunting them out completely. Or at least cut back.” Prudence looked back at Merilwen. “Cut back? Would that be good enough?”

“I prefer the idea of him stopping completely,” Merilwen seethed.

Prudence gestured to Merilwen. “Yeah, what she said. But I mean, it affects you, too. Do you like, uh… wild boar? I guess? Rabbit? Pheasant? I don’t know.” She spread her hands in an exaggerated shrug. “Screw up the food chain and you don’t get any of those.”

Horgan looked them all over, one by one. “You come into my home. You pretend to be something you’re not. And then you make demands of me that would effectively shut down my business. Give me one reason why I should even listen to what you have to say.”

Egbert had mostly detached from the scene in front of him, his eyes scanning his surroundings in search of something entertaining. They lighted on a pair of crossed swords on the wall, with a bronze plaque underneath: Esterwell Annual Fencing Championship, Second Place. Without thinking, he blurted out, “A duel.”

“I beg your pardon?” Horgan asked. The rest of the party fixed Egbert with confused looks.

“A duel,” the dragonborn repeated, with a little more confidence this time — confidence filled in a lot of blanks, in his experience. “If one of us bests you in a duel, you have to at least give us a proper audience.”

Much to the group’s surprise — including Egbert’s, truth be told — Horgan seemed to consider it. “Hmm. Well. I suppose it makes more sense than… whatever we’ve been doing.” He gestured at the room in general, then turned to Corazón. “On the condition that I fight this one.”

Corazón grinned. “Hell yeah. I’ll fight you. Prepare to have your whole scene wrecked by Corazón de Ballena.”

“I thought you said your name was Jeff Crimestopper.”

“I told you. Deep cover.”

Horgan sighed wearily and turned to his doorman. “See them out. Tomorrow at sunrise on the lawn. Come alone, whatever your name is. And pray you do not lose. I have no patience for time-wasters.”

The five were ushered out without another word.

“Not sure it’s wise to challenge a prizewinning fighter to a duel,” Merilwen noted when they were outside town again. “That sort of seems like the main thing he’ll be ready for.”

Egbert waved a hand. “Pff, it’s fine. The plaque on his wall said he was only second place. That means there’s at least one person better than him in town.”

“Still… What’s going to happen if Corazón if he loses?”

Corazón laughed. “Pff. Hah. Nothing. Because Corazón won’t lose.” He unsheathed his rapier and stopped to take a few jabs at a nearby tree. A heavy branch, near to breaking, creaked overhead. “You know what my crew used to call me?”

“Yes,” said Prudence, “you’ve complained about it several times.”

“I mean in battle. You know, when we captured ships. My swordsmanship is second to none. They used to call me Corazón the—”

There was a crash, and silence.

Egbert stopped walking, waiting for the punchline. “Corazón the what?”

“Er.” Merilwen pointed back toward the tree hesitantly. “Corazón the unconscious, apparently.”

Prudence turned and lifted away the branch, wincing at the sight of the pirate splayed out on the ground. “Oh, dear…” Then she looked up at the group. “So does this mean I’m captain now?”

---

The general consensus had been to let Corazón be once he’d been carried back to the Joyful Damnation and bundled into bed. He would likely be full of opinions and complaints as soon as he woke up. That, and he’d need his rest before dueling Horgan the next morning. 

There was no bleeding as far as they could tell. Just a big bruise that would get bruisier over the next few days. Egbert dropped a quick bit of healing on Corazón which, while it would likely be helpful in the long run, did nothing to wake him. Eventually, Dob took up a seat by the enormous bed in the captain’s quarters, keeping an eye on the patient and picking out a few chords to pass the time. Just as he was getting a good riff worked out... 

“Ow.”

“Ow?” Dob leaned over the bed. “Did you say ow?”

“Yes, I said ow. Because I’m in pain.”

Dob jumped up from his seat and threw the door open. “Guys! Guys! He’s awake!”

Prudence was the first to run in. “Is he okay?”

“Sounds like it.”

Egbert followed, with Merilwen bringing up the rear. They crowded around Corazón’s bed, realized at the same time that that would probably look weird from his vantage point, and backed off a bit.

“Corazón?” Dob leaned in slightly. “How’s your head?”

He squinted up at Dob. “What did you call me?”

“Oh, right.” Dob laughed. “Silly me. How’s your head, DCI Crimestopper?”

This just seemed to confuse him more. “Who… what are you talking about?” Then he pulled himself up to sitting, perhaps a little more quickly than he ought, and pressed a hand to the top of his head, looking around. “I feel like I’ve been beaned with an entire tree. Where the hell am I?”

“Your room,” Prudence offered. “We figured you’d want a nap after the bludgeoning.”

He shook his head, still sounding a bit dazed. “No… this isn’t my room. My room is bigger. And it doesn’t rock and creak. Are we… are we on a ship?” He looked up at the others again, as though seeing them for the first time.

“... who the hell are all of you?”

There was an awkward silence.

“He’s messing about, right?” Egbert grinned nervously at the others. 

“It’s Corazón,” Prudence said quickly, “of course he’s messing about. Just humor him, he’ll be on to something new when he’s tired of it.”

Dob was already on board at humor him. He pressed a hand to his forehead. “Oh, no! Corazón! All our precious memories, lost forever! Please say it isn’t so, old friend!”

If Corazón was acting, he was really leaning into the deadpan delivery. “Is this some sort of prank? It’s not a very good one, if…” His gaze wandered down to his hands resting on the bed sheet, his sleeves wrinkled back somewhat. His eyes went wide, and he made a sort of choking, stammering sound.

Then, again far more quickly than he probably should have, he threw himself out of bed, shoving past Egbert on the way to the largest of his mirrors. Carefully, he pulled his collar aside. And gasped.

“Oh, my God, I’ve been tattooed in my sleep!”

“Gosh,” Egbert said with an admiring smile, “he’s really devoting himself to the bit, isn’t he?”

Merilwen shook her head slightly. “I… don’t… know if it’s a bit.”

“Which one of you did this to me?!” Corazón pointed at the tentacle tattoo emerging from under his collar. “Why would you do that? Why… what happened to my hair!? How long have I been asleep!?” He grabbed the nearest person — Egbert — by the collar. “Are you trying to change my identity!? Am I going to be sold off to the highest bidder!? What’s your plan!? You have to tell me!”

Dob grabbed for his lute, a nervous grin plastered on his face. “Ooooh! Oh, dear! Looks like someone could use a nice lullaby.”

Merilwen held out a warning hand to Dob. “No? No. One second.” She waved a hand to Corazón, the way one might a skittish fox. “Hey, over here.”

“What!? What do you want now!?”

“Just. Okay. Calm down for a second. Calm…” Merilwen inhaled and exhaled slowly, guiding the breathing with her hands. Corazón, surprisingly did the same. That in itself was a sign that something was off.

“Okay, just keep your eyes on me, all right?”

“Sure.” Corazón’s voice was strained.

Merilwen rooted around in the pocket of one of Corazón’s jackets, folded neatly over a nearby chair. She found what she was looking for — a little leather pouch of gold coins — and poured the contents out into her hand. She showed them to Corazón, as though setting up a magic trick. He watched and nodded tensely, his jaw set.

“Dob,” she said with a sweet smile, opening the cabin window. “Would you do the honors?”

“Would I?” Without hesitation, he took the little handful of coins from Merilwen, slid over to the window, and chucked them out into the sea, one by one.

All eyes turned toward Corazón.

“Yes, and?” The nervousness was tinged with irritation. “What?”

Another awkward silence, this one longer. And awkwarder. As they all, in their own time, came to terms with the fact that Corazón was not, in fact, acting.

Prudence tapped him experimentally on the shoulder. He flinched away, balling his hands into fists and holding them in front of his face.

“Hey, hey, whoa! No, no, we’re your friends! It’s us!” Prudence smiled, gesturing around the room. “You know. The Oxventurers! Can’t you recognize us?”

Corazón lowered his fists. “If you mean could I pick you out of a lineup, then yes, I certainly could.”

“Corazón…”

“Hff… and stop calling me that! It’s weird!” He brushed off his sleeve where Prudence had tapped him. “If you’re my kidnappers, then I would hope you already know who I am.”

“Y-Yeah.... Sorry.” Prudence frowned, then smiled. “Percy?”

“Thank you. That’s more like it.” And Corazón made a break for the deck. 

---

“All I’m saying,” said the half-orc with the large hammer and the very nice hair, “is that we could be having a cider-making contest in the town square right now.”

“Or burning things,” said the tiefling, as a pair of ancient tomes played around her heels like rowdy puppies. “We could also be burning things right now.”

If this was a kidnapping, it was a very civilized one. Percy hadn’t had any practical experience with being kidnapped, to be fair. His father had suggested that it might happen once or twice in his youth, because that was just how life was for the children of rich and influential people. But after making it to adulthood without ever waking up in a dingy cellar surrounded by leering mercenaries, he’d just put it to the side.

He’d also been a bit disappointed, as escaping from said mercenaries could have been fun. But in retrospect, he might not have done as well at that as he liked to pretend.

He wasn’t tied up, or locked up. At worst, he had been prevented from leaping off the ship by all four of his kidnappers (and a seal, he was still contending with that information) piling themselves on top of him. They’d bundled him back into the captain’s quarters while they consulted with each other. Percy took the time to shave — the itch from his stubble was frazzling his already-frazzled brain — and change into a shirt that still had functional buttons.

The change had gotten a slight stare of disbelief from his captors, as though he’d gone and swapped heads, but no actual comments were made. And now, the dragonborn was sitting by him on the deck and handing him a cup of tea, and it smelled suspiciously like what he drank at home, and yes, this was absolutely one of his teacups.

“So!” the dragonborn said with a toothy grin. “Cora-... er, Percival. Percy? Mr. Milquetoast? Sorry, not sure what to call you now.” He had a cup of his own, but rather than sipping from it, he opened his long snout and splashed the contents inside. Judging by the reaction that followed, the tea was still very hot.

“Just, er… whichever? I guess?” Why was he sitting on a ship drinking tea with his kidnappers while they asked what to call him? Why had his father not been mentioned yet? Was that still incoming? His teacup rattled against the saucer.

“Mmmm… Percy. I’ve always thought you looked like a Percy.”

“Always?” Percy put his teacup down shakily on its saucer. “Then you’ve been spying on me? For how long?”

“No!” The dragonborn waved a hand frantically in front of himself. “No, no, I mean… we’re not…” He looked behind him, where the other three were peering at the scene thoughtfully. “Um, guys, I’m not doing great. Someone else try.”

The elf stepped in and tapped him on the shoulder, as though relieving him from duty. Good. As far as Percy could tell, she was the most logical of the group. She wasn’t panicking… not that he could see, at least.

“So you’re Good Cop, then?” Percy eyed her warily.

“No…” The elf sighed, a sort of long-suffering sigh that made him feel like this was not the first long-suffering sigh she’d issued him. “We’re your friends, really. And we’re just trying to figure out how to help you.”

Percy narrowed his eyes. “My friends.”

“Yes.”

“Not magical kidnappers looking for a piece of the Milquetoast fortune.”

“No. Not magical kidnappers looking for a piece of the family fortune. I promise.” 

“I mean, I have friends at home. I can just go home to my actual friends, and not whatever you guys are pretending to be.”

The elf’s face settled into an expression that somehow managed to be both neutral and confrontational, her lips pressed into a line. “Name four friends you have at home.”

Damn. “Uh, th-there’s, uh… there’s Steve… F-Friendsman.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s, a-um, Roger… M’buddy.”

The elf pressed a hand to her face. “Please, at least let us try to help you.”

She seemed absolutely genuine. It was making his head hurt. This was not how criminals acted. As far as he knew. “Fine, help me, or whatever it is you want to do.”

“All right, so…” The elf clasped her hands together. “It’s probably just a matter of jogging your memory. You got a little bop on the head, it shook things up, but we can help you connect things up again. Right?”

“Sure,” Percy said hesitantly, now with the added wrinkle of wondering when and how he’d been hit over the head. He considered asking, but he could already hear the answer. No, we didn’t hit you over the head intentionally. It was a love tap. Something like that.

The elf smiled. It didn’t seem like a kidnapper’s smile. But again, he had nothing to go on. Maybe kidnappers had really nice smiles. “Okay, good. So let’s just rattle out a few of the high points, and see what your brain latches onto.”

Percy nodded, taking a sip from the teacup he still held in a death grip.

“Okay. Spicy rat?” She paused, and he wasn’t sure what for. After a short silence, she picked up again. “No? Okay, that was a while ago, admittedly. Uh… baby-making watch?”

“Babies don’t come from watches,” Percy scoffed. “They come from under cabbage leaves.”

The elf ground to a halt in her questioning, but picked up again with a shake of the head. “What about the party? The one where you went dressed as a sexy nurse and made a teenage girl cry.”

Percy scowled. “I would never do that!”

The half-orc chuckled. “Oh, you very much did.”

“I will not allow you to paint me with the same brush as you, you… s-scoundrels!” Percy felt a chill down the back of his neck. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? You’re trying to convince me I’m one of you and whisk me away to do unspeakable crimes, is that it?”

“Hasn’t taken much trying so far, mate,” Merilwen grumbled.

“Waaaait wait wait wait.” The tiefling squeezed up next to the elf. “We’re coming at this from the wrong angle. He’s clearly forgotten stuff from before we met him, too, right? What we need to do is remind him of why he became a pirate.”

Percy looked around the ship. Then down at the clothes he’d woken up in. And the tattoo on his wrist. “I’m a pirate?”

“Yep, you are a pirate.”

“So… this really is my ship?”

“Er, our ship, yes.” The tiefling seemed to take a lot of pride in saying that. Well, being co-owner of a ship was something to be proud of… if it was true, he’d probably let himself feel a bit proud, too. “So, maybe if you can summon up the feelings that made you want to run away from home and be a pirate, the rest will follow. So, tell us about your dad.”

“He’s… dumb?” Percy shrugged. “He’s annoying? I don’t know, it’s a lot of effort to run away from him for being dumb and annoying. I’ve got nothing.” 

The tiefling leaned in conspiratorially. “Nothing about what a bad dad he is? How he has ridiculous expectations of you? Doesn’t want you to have fun and live your own life?” She paused. “How he’s got a stupid wig and he’s all stuffy and bossy?”

Percy leaned away from her. “You seem to have plenty against him already.”

“Oh, no, no. I don’t hate him. You do.”

“No, it really does sound like it’s you.”

The tiefling laughed, waving a hand. “Oh, no, that’s just because he bothers you. It’s a support thing. I’d totally love to live in his big ol’ house.”

“So you’re telling me you don’t like my father, but you do like his money, and that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

The tiefling’s face twisted into a confused frown. “Oh, man. Yeah, we do kinda sound like we kidnapped you for ransom, don’t we?”

Percy flinched away, nearly dropping his teacup. Oddly, the tiefling was once again trying to reassure him. “Which we didn’t?? Which we didn’t. I’m just saying.” She sighed. “I guess he forgot whatever happened that made him want to run away, too. How about you, Egbert? Got any paladin magic for him?”

“I’ve got something better!”

All eyes, Percy’s included, turned to the dragonborn — who was now swinging a mace from one clawed hand.

“So, you know how in all the stories, right? Someone gets knocked on the head and gets amnesia, but then they get hit in the same spot and all their memories come back. Let’s just do that!”

The dragonborn strode over to Percy, winding up the mace. Percy stumbled backwards, his teacup falling and shattering on the deck. “Don’t you dare!”

“Egbert, not that mace!” the elf shouted.

“Oh, it’s fiiiine. I had to hit whatsisname loads of times before he actually turned into a seal.”

Percy looked at the seal. The seal looked back.

“Eg.”

The dragonborn raised his mace over his head. Percy stumbled backwards towards the door to the captain’s quarters, eyes locked on the cursed weapon. He reached behind him for the doorknob and twisted frantically. The door wouldn’t give way.

The elf flung herself at the dragonborn, turning into an octopus in midair. The two hit the deck, the mace rolling harmlessly across the deck as the octopus held the would-be attacker in place. Percy finally managed to yank the door open, racing into the captain’s quarters and slamming the door behind him.

“I meant a spell!” Percy heard the tiefling yell from the other side of the door. “You’ve got more healing spells, don’t you?”

“Oh, riiiight…”

There was a gentle tap at the door. Percy eyed it nervously.

“Heeey, buddy. You okay?” It was the half-orc. “Can I come in?”

“No, you absolutely cannot come in. You’re all insane and there’s a seal man out there saying egg.”

“That’s cool, that’s cool. I’ll just sit out here, how’s that?”

Percy heard a gentle thump against the other side of the door. “So… you really don’t remember anything, do you? About us, or your pirate crew, or any of that?”

“Last thing I remember is going to bed at Milquetoast Manor and thinking tomorrow night’s party was going to be very boring. Then I woke up in bed on a strange boat, with all of you standing over me looking ready to dissect me or something.” Percy sat down, leaning on the other side of the door. His head still felt foggy. “So? Which one of you blackjacked me?”

“You blackjacked yourself with a tree.”

Percy frowned. “Is that the sort of thing I’m likely to do?”

“Oh, yes,” the half-orc said cheerfully. “Merilwen had a stack of tree puns ready to go, but under the circumstances it seemed, uh… bit tasteless.”

“Merilwen?”

“The elf. Don’t worry, you can hear them later. You know, when your head’s right again.” A pause. “Oh! Haha. Of course. I’m Dob, by the way. The tiefling is Prudence, and the big dragon man is Egbert. And we’re all your friends, and we all do super cool things together.”

Percy nodded, still not completely convinced. Then he realized Dob wouldn’t be able to see him on the other side of the door. “If you say so.”

“Gosh. Introducing myself to you. That brings back memories.” Dob stopped himself, fumbling, as if he’d just said something extremely offensive. “I mean… you know…”

Against his better judgment, Percy got up and opened the door. Dob, leaning heavily on it, tumbled backwards… but turned the tumble into a backwards somersault and landed lightly on his feet. He gave a little bow, and Percy felt he ought to clap. Just considering the effort.

“You ready to come out and talk to the others?”

Percy leaned to one side and looked out onto the deck. Egbert was on his feet again, with Merilwen (now an elf) still clinging to his back, as though uncertain whether the dragonborn could be trusted on his own yet. Prudence wore a friendly smile that seemed to say “I’m not going to sacrifice you to my eldritch god, but I’m also not not going to sacrifice you to my eldritch god.” His trusted friends. Apparently.

Before Percy could answer, Dob slapped him on the back and walked him out onto the deck. “All right. We’ve all had a little breather, a little think, and I think… and this is just me… we should back-burner the memory loss issue and focus on the bigger problem.”

“There’s a bigger problem?” Percy looked at Dob incredulously.

The group at large winced. “Yeah…” Dob continued to speak for the group, and no one seemed to mind being relieved of that duty for the moment. “See, Percy. Percival. Friend. Our good friend of so long…”

“Just tell me what’s going to happen to me.”

“You have to duel someone tomorrow morning.”

Percy extracted himself from Dob’s friendly side-arm. “What? Why? Why would I do that?”

“Again,” said Dob, “if it makes you feel better, it is extremely on brand.”

“Hsfd… it doesn’t make me feel better! I have to fight someone tomorrow and I’m not me! I mean, I am me, but I’m not this other me who went and did a thing I didn’t do!”

Amongst them, Percy’s friends(?) laid out the entire situation. All he managed to retain were slimes, collapse of the natural world, very large man, and imminent swordfight. The rest was a sort of blur, and one he was in no mood to attempt to figure out.

“I can’t do this.” It was a statement of fact. “Maybe this Corazón guy can do this, but I can’t. Horgan’s going to be expecting some jerk pirate who can swordfight.”

“We can try another refresher,” suggested Merilwen.

Egbert reached for his mace. “I could try—-”

“No,” said everyone, possibly even the seal.

“Look,” Dob said gently, “we’ll have puh-lenty of time to work on the memory thing, right? All we have to do is get through tomorrow, and if it hasn’t cleared up by then, we’ll find someone to help you, no problem.”

“How can you be so sure?” Percy asked, the fretting feeling coming back even stronger than before.

Egbert shrugged. “It’ll happen. That’s how it tends to go. A problem comes up, and then a couple days later someone comes along with a quest that’ll fix it. It’s really handy.”

“Okay, that’s great for after tomorrow morning. But what about me, tomorrow morning, with swords? What’s my guarantee I get past that alive? Because I’ve never actually stabbed a man.”

“Yes you have,” Prudence pointed out.

“Like a lot,” Merilwen added.

“Apparently you kicked a man to death once,” said Egbert. “I mean, I found out later, but I believe it.”

“But I don’t remember that!” Percy flailed an arm helplessly. “It’s… hds… that’s some future guy and I’m not the future guy, I’m the me guy. How is the me guy going to survive?”

The group fell silent.

“... did I actually kick a man to death?”

They all nodded.

“Oh…”

“And see? That’s why we believe in you, Cor… er, Percy.” Dob threw an arm around Percy’s shoulders again. “We know what you’re capable of. We know it’s in here.” He jabbed at Percy’s chest with one finger. “And in here.” At his head.

“Ow!”

“The head, Dob,” Merilwen hissed, “watch the head.”

“Right, right. Look. We’ve got tonight to train you up into a believable Corazón de Ballena. You’ve already got the look, you’ve already got the voice. That’s more than most people start with.”

Percy let out a weak groan.

“Hey! No, this is good! We can do this! And maybe, somewhere along the way, something will trigger the ol’ bean and the memories will just come flooding back. Right, guys?”

The rest of the team seemed to believe it about as much as Percy did. Which wasn’t much.

“Are you sure we can’t just…” Percy motioned to the anchor rope. “Leave?”

“No,” Merilwen said firmly. But her expression was still hesitant. “No, we have to stop Horgan. More than anything else, that has to happen.”

She was insistent. This was important to her. Percy groaned again.

“Come on, buddy.” Dob lifted his arm from Percy’s shoulders, grabbing him by both arms and staring him in the eyes. “Look me in the eye.”

“Yeah. Looking.”

“Now. Are you a Thieves Cant, or a Thieves Can?”

Merilwen, at least, seemed to appreciate what Dob was going for.

---

Plan B no longer stood for Burning. Plan B, as indicated by a wild-shaped Merilwen taking up a spot behind the topiaries on Horgan’s lawn, now stood for Bear. And possibly Bomb, and Blast, and Bard Casts Thunder Wave, depending on who got trigger-happy first.

No amount of swordfighting or storytelling brought Corazón’s memory back. Nor did any amount of actually insisting on calling him Corazón. Their last ditch hope — that he’d wake up the next morning acting like nothing had happened — didn’t pan out, either. Dob gave pep talk after pep talk as Corazón fretted uncharacteristically, the latter eventually wrapping the uneaten bacon sandwich he’d made for himself in a piece of paper and stowing it in a jacket pocket. Finally, though, they’d all had to take up their positions and leave the rest to luck.

Corazón was left to make the walk up the lawn alone, but the other four had formed a perimeter: Merilwen in the topiary, Dob in a nearby tree, Prudence behind a fence, and Egbert peering over a hedge. Dob promised to shoot Corazón an occasional prompt if things got hairy; but, by and large, it was all him.

As the sun began to rise, Corazón walked up the paved path to the appointed spot. He’d not quite gotten his own swagger down, instead walking slow, measured steps with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Try to look like you’re too cool for the room! Dob thought; Corazón looked up and around, surprised, then seemed to remember what Dob had said about sending mental messages. He stopped where he was, pulled his hands out of his pockets, squared his shoulders, and walked even more awkwardly up the path.

Fine. It’d have to do.

Just as the light of sunrise hit its best and most aesthetic hue, Alonzo Horgan and his servant walked out. The former wore a rapier at his belt.

“Corazón de Ballena,” Horgan said broadly, his voice dripping with fake friendliness. “Or are we going by something new today?”

“No, er, that’s me.”

Dob thought another swift message.

“I mean… that’s right! That’s me, Corazón. The mighty pirate. Here to run you through like a tasty kebab and grill… grill you on the fires of justice? What the hell does that mean?”

Just go with it, Dob thought irritably, but the moment had passed. Shame. He was rather proud of that one.

Horgan eyed Corazón with amusement. “I can wait if you need a moment.”

“No, no. Erm. Yes, that’s me.” Corazón’s hand hovered over the hilt of his rapier. He was tense. He was ready. He might have been about to faint. It was hard to tell.

Horgan’s retainer’s voice was soft. None of them could hear it from their respective points along the perimeter. Corazón didn’t look especially surprised by any of it, which hopefully meant there was nothing odd about the rules of the duel.

From their spots, separated though each of them was, they all had the same thought at the same time: what would it take? What hadn’t they done? Would they need a spell? Some sort of quest? A skilled healer? Would another bop on the head really have done it?

A shrill whistle blew. Each of them was shaken out of their thoughts to see that the duel had begun, and Corazón was already flagging quickly. It was less of a duel and more of a chase, the enormous Horgan lumbering across the lawn after his smaller opponent. Corazón, for his part, was holding his ground… though “his ground” was constantly moving backwards across the lawn in zigzags.

His heel came dangerously close to a stray root, nearly hidden by the grass.

“Look out!” Egbert shouted. Merilwen, Dob, and Prudence shushed him. Horgan looked up and around for the source of the voice. Corazón, on the other hand, missed the warning entirely. His heel caught on the root, and he windmilled backwards, landing flat on his back.

Merilwen hesitated behind the topiary, one huge, clawed paw creeping around the side of the greenery. Was it go time? The others were in the same state of indecision, poised to attack but waiting to see what happened.

Corazón lifted his head slightly. The massive form of Horgan hovering over him, blade raised threatening, blocked out the faint light of sunrise. The sword hung there for a moment… then was flung across the lawn, accompanied by a disgusted sigh from Horgan.

“How very disappointing.”

The group shot each other quick glances. The message was clear. Well, clear-ish. “Stop Horgan before he can leave” was clear enough, but what would be done with him once apprehended was likely still up in the air. Corazón, unaware of any of this, propped himself up on his elbows.

“Where are you going?” he asked weakly. “We’re not done here.”

“I rather think we are.” Horgan shook his head in… amusement? Disappointment? It was hard to tell. “What a shame. You were so full of piss and vinegar yesterday, and today you’ve got no real fight in you.”

“I’ve got fight… I’ve got plenty of… hhhh.” Corazón put a hand to his head.

“Serves me right, thinking I’d get a good fight out of some puffed-up fake pirate.”

“... what did you say?” Corazón’s voice was suddenly oddly sharp and cold.

Horgan chuckled. “You heard me. You’re less convincing than the chap I hired for my niece’s seventh birthday party.” He waved a hand to his servant. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve not had breakfast yet and I’m peckish. Think I might go to the kitchen and have a bit of a graze.”

On his next step, Horgan’s booted foot slid forward, sending him falling backwards into a puddle of grease that had absolutely not been there moments ago. Now it was his turn to look up at a looming silhouette: Corazón de Ballena, sword pointing down threateningly in one hand, bacon sandwich in the other.

“How appropriate. You fight like a cow.”

Horgan spluttered, eyes bulging. “You… what nonsense is this!?”

“It’s called the power of grease, that’s what nonsense this is. Now get up and fight me so we can have our little talk. Or would you rather we just go ahead and burn your whole scene down?”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Yeah, you’re right, I wouldn’t. I think Prudence might, though.” Corazón shouted toward the fence. “Prudence! Plan B for burn?”

Prudence threw her hands in the air. “Plan B for buuuurn!”

Horgan had managed to pull himself up to one knee, the grease still dangerously slick beneath him. “I said to come alone!”

“Yeah, well, pirate. Don’t know what you expected.” Corazón stepped back, taking a bite of his sandwich. “So, I’m calling this a win for Team Oxventure. Which means it’s time for some negotiations concerning your, er, current business model.”

“But…” Horgan looked in the direction of his servant. He was long gone. Whether he’d run off, or whether the large bear standing where he’d stood had disposed of him, Horgan couldn’t tell.

“Oh, yes. That’s our sustainability advisor, Merilwen. She’ll be taking over from here.”

Merilwen growled.

---

“So what you’re saying,” said Egbert, “is that my plan was the best and would have worked.”

“Hff… no! Absolutely not.” Corazón was rubbing a hand over his chin, displeased with the lack of facial hair. “A one-in-six chance of being turned into an animal is not a best plan. Why did you let me shave? I hate it.”

“It’ll grow back.” Prudence poured out a mug of slime beer… the last remaining barrel, which they’d taken with them as a gratuity after aggressively convincing Horgan to discontinue his fermented slime line. She offered the mug to Merilwen, who waved a hand in front of herself emphatically.

“No, I don’t want to drink the poor baby slimes…” The rest became too high-pitched and tearful to translate.

“I’ll drink the poor baby slimes.” Dob grabbed the mug and necked half of it, much to Merilwen’s chagrin. “Anyway, what snapped you out of it? Was it hitting your head again?”

Corazón wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Don’t know. I know I got really mad when whatsisname called me a fake pirate, and I wasn’t having that.”

Prudence’s eyes lit up. “Ohh, spite! Literally the one thing we didn’t think to try!”

“Well,” said Dob, passing Corazón his mended teacup topped off with beer, “I think we’ve all had a chance to learn something about friendship and patience and being true to ourselves.”

Egbert poured himself a pint. “I haven’t learned anything.”

“I have.”

Everyone looked at Corazón. “Have you?” Dob asked.

“Yep.” Corazón took a sip of beer from the teacup. “We are absolutely terrifying.”

Merilwen nodded sagely. 

“Yeah,” Prudence said dreamily. “It’s good.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my room, and I’m not coming out again until my good facial hair is back.” The door to the captain’s quarters slammed behind Corazón.

And that is the story of how the Oxventurers brought down a corrupt businessman with a breakfast sandwich.

#oxventure #outside xbox #i'm supposed to be writing other things but i won't tell if you won't #anyway yes i write stories a lot i do them for a living #please read them #i love approval from strangers

[lutes-and-dandelions]

Thank you to the lovely @marvelousmaize and @starrose17 <3

rules: list you 10 favourite female characters, one per fandom, then tag 10 people :D

This like is in no particular order:

Yennefer of Vengerberg (The Witcher)

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Princess Leia Skywalker (Star Wars) 

Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

Nyota Uhura (Star Trek)

Prudence Blackwood (The Chilling Adventure of Sabrina)

Elle Woods (Legally Blonde)

Gaby Teller (The Man from U.N.C.L.E)

Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)

Karen Page (Marvel)

Tagging: @queerfantasycharacter @meliteles-tits @witchertrashbag @designatedloveinterest @the-winter-witcher @disasterboysandtheirgruffloves @dearsophieee @bard-llama @diligent-thunder @love-and-larks-and-white-wolves

#this was fun #tagging fun

[anditjustmadeherkind]

entj

1. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/182531435939/the-favourite-lady-sarah-entj

2. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/181275305100/mary-poppins-returns-mary-poppins-entj

3. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/186772626049/hush-hush-sweet-charlotte-miriam-entj

4. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/178734235970/teresa-teresa-chavez-entj

5. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/178517351910/oceans-eight-debbie-ocean-entj

6. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/170155855466/jessica-jones-jeryn-jeri-hogarth-entj

7. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/170809732962/westworld-maeve-millay-entj

8. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/172529934441/how-to-get-away-with-murder-michaela-pratt-entj

9. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/168056066580/underworld-blood-wars-semira-entj

10. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/167160727916/official-typing-by-charity-the-mod#notes

11. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/168576478164/official-typing-by-charity-the-mod-functional

12. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/136622821281/official-typing-by-charity-the-mod-functional#notes

13. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/129661213592/teen-wolf-victoria-argent-entj

14. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/120445175518/ad-kingdom-and-empire-leah-entj

15. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/101523832557/the-vampire-diaries-katherine-pierce-entj

estj

1.  https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/181225846040/gossip-girl-blair-waldorf-estj

2. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/180078242124/the-chilling-adventures-of-sabrina-prudence-night

3. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/179692855241/the-chilling-adventures-of-sabrina-spellman-zelda

4. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/186890834313/great-expectations-estella-havisham-estj

5. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/180593954106/the-last-kingdom-aelswith-estj

6. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/177345494876/like-father-rachel-estj

7. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/178316667584/downton-abbey-lady-violet-crawley-estj

8. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/174376813832/picnic-at-hanging-rock-hester-appleyard-estj

9. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/176525052065/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-angel-cordelia-chase

10. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/167416348210/galavant-madelena-estj

11. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/137297046462/official-typing-by-charity-the-mod-functional#notes

12. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/130425251782/lark-rise-to-candleford-pearl-pratt-estj

13. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/89162732813/the-tudors-katharine-of-aragon-estj

14. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/120108667481/game-of-thrones-cersei-lannister-estj

15. https://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/118867506446/reign-catherine-de-medici-estj

#entj #estj #te

[alaffy]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Ep. 15 – Doctor Cerberus’s House of Horror

This is a bit of an unusual episode, as it consists of a number of short stories.  One rainy afternoon, a Fortune Teller (played by legendary actress Veronica Cartwright) stops by Dr. Cerberus’s.  she has no money for food, but she offers to read fortunes for free.  So, everything we see is based on the fortunes she reads, but aren’t really happening.

For instance, Sabrina and Nick have popped into the bookstore after seeing a movie.  And it’s clear that they are having a few issues. Nick decides to check out the bookstore and Sabrina has her fortune read.  It seems her fortune is about her trust in Nick and about his relationship with the Weird Sisters.  

We then cut to Sabrina’s story, where she sees the Weird Sisters flirting with Nick.  Nick mentions to Sabrina that there’s a school talent show and he wants to perform stage magic as a lark.  He hopes Sabrina will be his partner.  Prudence says Sabrina does owe him after killing his familiar and not having sex with him in the last episode.  Later, Sabrina demands to know if Nick told Prudence about that night.  Nick points out that Prudence is telepathic and probably ready their minds.  He asks her what’s really going on.  She tells him that he lied to her about his familiar and now she’s wondering if he’s lying about anything else.  Say, for instance, is he actually still dating the Weird Sisters on the side?  After all, he flirts with just about everyone in the school. Nick is taken aback by this and a little insulted (I mean, he shouldn’t have lied, but this is a bit of a reach on her part).  Sabrina tells him she will not be his assistant in the magic show.  

Cut to, the magic show and a whole audience full of women.  Nick does a few tricks and has the Weird Sisters help him.  Finally, during his last trick, Sabrina volunteers. Nick is basically going to levitate her, but she’ll be fine so long as she trusts him.  But the sister cause a problem with the spell and Nick can’t bring Sabrina back down.  She floats up and up, until we see her frozen in space. Yes, you read that right. Cut back to the bookstore, where Sabrina says that won’t actually happen.  The Fortune Teller says, the story is directed by the cards.  What’s important in the story, or the moral of the story, is that Sabrina shouldn’t fear the path she’s on…so long as she trust the one she’s walking with.  And then, Nick pops up saying he found a book explaining some of Houdini’s tricks.

The next story is Theo’s. Theo’s story is about metamorphosis. Theo wants to have gender affirmation surgery, but there are no Doctor’s around in Greendale that can do the surgery and his family couldn’t even afford it.  Dorothea points out that Theo knows witches.  Theo is worried they might refuse to help, but Dorothea tells him to just steal what he needs.  You probably know where this is going.  Theo is able to break into the Spellman’s, find a spell, and uses it.  And, at first, it seems to go well (they even a moment where apparently he did good in a basketball game against the Riverdale Bulldogs).  But, of course, the spell goes wrong.  Basically, he becomes a reverse Pinocchio (in that his body is turning into wood).  He goes to Hilda, who tells him that she can either reverse the whole spell or cut off the arm that already is wood.  Theo has his dad cut off his arm.  But then his legs become wood.  Back in the bookstore, the Fortune Teller tells him not to steal and to seek help from others.

Roz is next.  Roz is brought in by her dad to wait while he goes to the bank.  Just a quick reminder, in the last episode, Roz lost her vision.  Roz meets the Fortune Teller and, initially, is unsure about having her fortune read.  But she changes her mind, after the Fortune Teller lets Roz know that she knows about The Cunning.  Roz’s story is about if she should have a operation to try to restore her sight.  Roz has the operation and it does restore her sight. So, what’s the cost?  Well, it turns out Roz’s operation was paid for by her father’s congregation (her father is a Preacher).  And, as Harvey points out, that doesn’t seem like it’s a big deal they wanted to help.  But it’s more then that.  Anytime Roz’s father needs money, he asks the congregation and they just give it.  So, Roz has a lack of faith in her father and she feels uneasy with how he pays for things.  (And I can understand.  It’s one thing to ask for help in a moment of crisis, but if he’s doing it all the time…)  Yet, she went through with the operation anyway.  She decides to pay it forward, by working with the blind.  When she goes for her first day, she is paired with a girl named Audrey.  A young girl whose eyes had been removed…and given to Roz.  Roz’s father paid the young girl’s father with church money for the eyes.  Back at the bookstore, the Fortune Teller says that Roz’s future isn’t set and that she still has a choice to make.  Roz tells her father that she doesn’t want to use church money to pay for the operation and that she’s willing to wait.

Zelda comes in next. She’s upset because Hilda forgot about the cake tasting.  Hilda suggests Zelda speak to the Fortune Teller for a bit of fun. Zelda is not convinced, but decides what the hell.  Her story is about how she hid baby Laticia from Blackwood.  She goes to get Laticia, but it turns out that the witch she asked to take care of Laticia decided to eat her to gain her youth back.  The witch wants back into society and so she blackmails Zelda. She won’t tell Blackwood about the baby, so long as she gets an invitation to Zelda’s wedding.  At the wedding reception, Zelda goes to find Blackwood and finds him making out with the witch.  Zelda tries to stop Blackwood because the witch’s youth is based on…yeah.  He tells Zelda to give him one good reason as to why he should stop and then the whole party is watching…and thankfully, we cut back to the bookstore.  The moral (I guess), some secrets should remain secret.

Next is Harvey, who want to have his fortune read?  (Bit weird considering…)  In his story, he has to choose between Greendale and the art school in Rhode Island.  Harvey goes to the art school for the summer and has a roommate named Howard (fun fact:  he’s played by Nicolai Witschi, who plays Dr. Curdle Jr. on Riverdale).  Anyway, Howard is strange (and, yeah, the way he’s played is very Dr. Curdle-like.) and his work seems to be a bit on the horror side. Also, he works late at night.  Turns out Howard gets his ideas from demons in his closet.  Howard hopes that, if he paints them, he can somehow bind them to the pictures and trap them.  Then, one day, Harvey finds Howard has hung himself or something hung him.  Harvey opens the closet door and sees nothing…until later that night, where he stares into the abyss.  Back in the bookstore, the suggestion given to Harvey is not to leave home; that he’ll unlock his true calling in Greendale.

And finally Ambrose.  In his story, Ambrose is asked to join the Judas society; a secret group in the church committed to bringing the church back to the old ways.  Ambrose is told by Blackwood he will always be a prisoner of his family so long as he doesn’t “correct” the women in the family (I really can’t figure out why Zelda thinks she will have any power in her marriage).  Ambrose goes to the Spellman house and kills his family.  Back at the Bookstore, Ambrose is confused as he thought that the story was going to be about his relationship with Luke and he doesn’t understand how Luke fits into this.  However, the Fortune Teller has not shown the third card.  She tells him it’s better he doesn’t know, but he grabs the card from her.  We are not shown the card, but it’s enough to cause Ambrose to run from the bookstore.

And with that, the Fortune Teller leaves.  Back at the Spellman’s, Sabrina asks Nick if he’s her boyfriend and then she asks him to stay away from the Weird Sisters.  She says she trusts him, but she doesn’t trust them.  

Ambrose, meanwhile, bursts into Blackwood’s office.  He asks Blackwood if he would ever hurt the Spellman’s or ask Ambrose to.  Blackwood says he would not. Well, he makes it sound like that’s what he’s saying.  Blackwood has news he needs to tell Ambrose.  It turns out Luke, on his mission, has died.  And now, we see the final card, which Ambrose still holds. Death.  And Ambrose is asked to join the Judas society in honor of Luke.

Lilith comes home looking like the Fortune Teller.  Turns out, she did all of this to find out more about Sabrina and her family.  She wants to know for the upcoming war, especially if the Apocalypse is coming.  Basically, Lilith has decided she’s going to be a ruler and she is going to join forces with whoever can help her achieve her goals.  

#chilling adventures of sabrina #sabrina spellman #ambrose spellman #zelda spellman #madam satan #roz walker #theo putnam #harvey kinkle

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Historical

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:

When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (Rue to her friends) is given an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female would under similar circumstances - names it the Spotted Custard and floats to India in pursuit of the perfect cup of tea. But India has more than just tea on offer. Rue stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis and an embarrassing lack of bloomers, what else is a young lady of good breeding to do but turn metanatural and find out everyone's secrets, even thousand-year-old fuzzy ones?

*Opinions*

Prudence is the first novel in the third series in the Parasolverse, The Custard Protocol. As I have come to expect from Carriger’s work, it was fast-paced, witty, and fun. Prudence follows the first adventure of Lady Captain Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama, Rue for short, and her eccentric crew as they travel to India in search of a new strain of Tea. However, things because severely more complicated when Rue is thrust into a political kerfuffle that leads to the English Empire’s understanding of supernatural creatures turned completely on its head. That is if the Spotted Custard can complete its maiden voyage with both dirigible and crew intact.

Carriger, as always, presented a cast of characters that were fleshed out, slightly ridiculous, and very lovable. While it helped that I was fond of all of the characters from when they were presented as children in the other series, they all gained my affection in their own right. I also appreciated the cameos from important individuals in the other novels, though it was unsurprising given who Rue’s parents are and their connections throughout the Empire. Still, I got a little flutter in my heart at the scenes with Lord and Lady Maccon, even if Rue wasn’t so fond of her biological set of parents.

I enjoyed Rue as a heroine, though it took me a little bit of time to get used to her. Rue is a well-rounded character, which means that she had both good and bad qualities. At times she was a little too naïve or stubborn, which makes sense given her upbringing, even if it was unorthodox. However, as the reader, it made you want to shake her at times because you understand what is going on even if Rue doesn’t. While Carriger doesn’t usually let this go on to the point it becomes aggravating, it does make Rue a very flesh-out character because of the annoyance. That being said, I enjoy that she is far less concerned by social niceties than her mother and far more interested in getting into the middle of things, whether she should be there or not.

The rest of the Spotted Custard’s crew was just as flawed and wonderful. Primrose Tunstell is the perfect counterbalance to Rue and has all the social grace that Rue lacks. It helps that Prim uses those graces as a weapon to ensure whatever plan or lark that Rue is on succeeds. In contrast, her brother Percy Tunstell lacks almost all social graces, but his insatiable curiosity and knowledge make him invaluable to the crew of the Custard, even if they don’t always like him. Then there is Quesnel Lefoux, whose brilliance is only matched by his ability to get on Rue’s nerves. Throw in a spunky deckling named Spoo and a cranky greaser running things in the boiler room and the whole crew is as likely as to fight with one another as they are to have a civilized afternoon tea. In fact, there isn’t a single character I met in this novel that I didn’t enjoy, aside from the ones that are supposed to be painted in an unattractive light.

I enjoyed that this novel is going even further afield than in the Parasole Protectorate novels. Not only that, but this book addresses the British Empire’s expansion, The East Indian Trading Company, and how this is not as wonderfully enlightening as the propaganda wanted everyone to believe. While the tone of this novel never became heavy, there were far too many hijinks for that, I always appreciate when novels situated in some way in historical events acknowledge the bad as well as the pretty dresses and wonderful tea. There is more in the world than anyone could imagine, even in a world with vampires, werewolves, and ghosts as part of civilized society. Given the information discovered in this novel, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the series addresses the Empire, its expansion, and everything that does along with it. I

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which was a relief after I wasn’t too fond of the last novella I read. I am excited to see where it is going and what other adventures the crew of the Spotted Custard can get into on their next mission.

#Prudence #book review #booklr #Gail Carriger #4 out of 5 Stars #A Custard Protocol Novel

[foxglove-the-never-fairy]

Fairy Names

Fly with you! Do you have a fairy character you wish you could name? Maybe you’re writing a Disney Fairy fanfic and need names? Maybe you miss the name generator from Pixie Hollow online. Or maybe you just want some names.

Well you’re in luck. I’ve pulled all the names available from “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue” in the create-a-fairy section of the game. I’m pretty sure these were the exact names available on Pixie Hollow online as well since players were able to upload their fairies into the game.

Now I did get rid of names that are already in use from canon characters (that includes characters from The Never Girls series) and I got rid of repeat names with different spellings and only picked one(like Ashleigh and Ashley). They are arranged in alphabetical order from first name, middle name, and last name.

I hope you enjoy!!!!!!!

~🧚🏻‍♀️🔥 Foxglove

(First)

Abigail

Acorn

Alexa

Alexia

Ali

Alina

Amber

Amethyst

Amy

Anastasia

Apricot

April

Aria

Arianna

Ash

Ashley

Autumn

Barbara

Bayberry

Bellflower

Bethany

Betsy

Bim

Bonnie

Breezy

Buttercup

Camellia

Camille

Carnation

Carrie

Carrot

Cecile

Celeste

Charity

Charlotte

Chestnut

Chickadee

Chipmunk

Chocolate

Cinnamon

Clover

Cobweb

Coconut

Coriander

Cornflower

Crabapple

Cranberry

Cricket

Crystal

Cupcake

Cypress

Daffodil

Dahlia

Dandelion

Daphne

Dawn

Daybreak

Daylily

Dew

Dewdrop

Ebony

Echo

Ella

Elma

Elva

Emerald

Emily

Emma

Eve

Faith

Fantasia

Fauna

Fiery

Flax

Flix

Flora

Foxglove

Frances

Gardenia

Ginkgo

Gloria

Gloriosa

Happy

Harmony

Hazel

Heather

Heidi

Helen

Hickory

Holly

Honey

Hope

Hurricane

Hyacinth

Indigo

Infinity

Iris

Isabelle

Jade

Jamie

Jayla

Jeanie

Jenny

Jessamine

Jillian

Joy

Julie

Juniper

Karina

Karma

Kate

Kelly

Kenzie

Kiki

Kiwi

Kobi

Koko

Kylee

Kyra

Labyrinth

Lala

Lark

Laurel

Lauren

Lavender

Layla

Lemony

Lenora

Libby

Lila

Lilac

Liri

Lizzy

Lorella

Lori

Lucia

Lucky

Lucy

Lulu

Lynn

Maddie

Magenta

Magpie

Mahogany

Margo

Marigold

May

Melanie

Melody

Mia

Milkweed

Minerva

Miranda

Misty

Moptop

Mudpie

Mulberry

Muriel

Nectarine

Newt

Nightfall

Nightshade

Nissa

Nutmeg

Octavia

Olive

Olivia

Onyx

Opal

Orchid

Oregano

Oriole

Pandora

Paprika

Parsley

Patchwork

Peachy

Peanut

Pearl

Pecan

Penelope

Persimmon

Petunia

Pineapple

Pistachio

Pluma

Poplar

Posy

Primrose

Prinna

Prudence

Pumpkin

Quicksilver

Quinn

Rachel

Raven

Rhodie

Rhonda

Rhubarb

Rill

River

Robin

Rosa

Rose

Rosemary

Ruby

Saffron

Sahara

Sally

Sapphire

Sarah

Sassafras

Savannah

Seaweed

Serendipity

Shanna

Sienna

Silver

Skyler

Sneezy

Snowflake

Sophie

Sprinkles

Stargazer

Stella

Stormy

Strawberry

Sundew

Sunflower

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunshine

Tamara

Tangy

Tansy

Tessa

Tiger

Tiny

Toadstool

Topaz

Tori

Trinity

Tulip

Turnip

Twilight

Tyra

Valorie

Vanessa

Vicki

Victoria

Wallflower

Walnut

Winnie

Wispa

Xenops

Yasmine

(Middle)

Air

Almond

Apple

Aspen

Beauty

Bitter

Bright

Broom

Bubble

Bumble

Candle

Chilly

Citrus

Cloud

Cloudy

Cocoa

Cotton

Cozy

Dapple

Day

Dazzle

Diamond

Drift

Elm

Evening

Fancy

Fig

Fire

Flicker

Foggy

Fox

Frost

Frosty

Frozen

Funny

Garlic

Giggle

Glitter

Grape

Grassy

Green

Ice

Island

Jelly

Jumpy

Lemon

Light

Lightning

Lime

Little

Lotus

Lovely

Magic

Mango

Maple

Merry

Moon

Morning

Moss

Mossy

Mountain

Muddy

Never

Night

Oak

Orange

Peach

Pear

Pepper

Pine

Plum

Pollen

Pretty

Purple

Quick

Rainbow

Rainy

Sandy

Sea

Shiny

Silk

Snow

Sour

Speedy

Spider

Star

Sugar

Sun

Sweet

Tangle

Thunder

Tulip

Tumlbe

Twisty

Vanilla

Water

Whiffle

Wild

Winter

Wonder

Wrinkle

Yarrow

(Last)

Bead

Beam

Bee

Belle

Berry

Bloom

Blossom

Boots

Breath

Bug

Butter

Button

Cliff

Clove

Cup

Curl

Dance

Drop

Dust

Ear

Eye

Feather

Field

Flame

Flash

Fleck

Flight

Flip

Flower

Fluff

Fly

Foam

Fog

Foot

Forest

Freeze

Froth

Fruit

Garden

Gem

Glade

Glimmer

Glow

Gourd

Grass

Griddle

Gust

Heart

Hopper

Horn

Jewel

Lace

Lake

Lashes

Leaf

Locks

Loop

Meadow

Mello

Mint

Muddle

Muse

Noodle

Peal

Pebbles

Petal

Plume

Pond

Pool

Puff

Ray

Ripple

Root

Sage

Sand

Shadow

Shimmer

Shine

Socks

Song

Spark

Speck

Spirit

Splash

Spring

Sprite

Sprout

Stem

Storm

Stream

Stripe

Swamp

Swirls

Thorn

Toad

Toes

Tree

Twill

Twinkle

Twirl

Twist

Vale

Valley

Vine

Wax

Weather

Web

Whirl

Whisk

Whisper

Wind

Wings

Wink

Wish

Wit

#Disney Fairies #Pixie Hollow #Pixie hollow Online #Fairy #Fairy names #names #Tinker Bell #Tinkerbell

[libidomechanica]

“on Lethes streams and fro”

Every spray of birds that gleams  on Lethes streams and fro. I did  but love thee, for ever new, a  void white as the vaults  and so bent his lips bidding the  top of that not know of  old and thus (what other reason change my  yearning unto the street, doors, at  first, more somewhere in the morning, eyes  in your cheating popcorn the  windy wold; nor hoary knoll to  know my heart that she herself in  spleen to the refrigerator.  That beat quick,  and said, “king of praise is due, only  in you disgusts  me; here upon me scowl— I wish to hearten  trust should have sate up tomorrow  will come out of sight. No doubt, Ive  broke” the old, and soul “that  floated in the day prepared  the dark, cracking up a sweet  Aglaia, my one swift or slow) draw down  Æonian hills, have shaken down, wait for  any chance to sound so good again,  and beauty, round her  height, and have larks, with thorny boughs  entwine the loved there in want  one of the river sallows  coming as thou only beauties, as  we are thus in lasts not flowers round,  and go, mount and madness, thy kindred  eye, and one way to lone  slumbers flow, I walk in the  night: o Father, when there, although  Ioy her see a ghost? Little by  little; but renewed, say, alas! Together  is not cold, but doth in those  that seems to perch dovelike in  this laurel, issued in the  will save thy breath through came at least ere the  patch. What so far like when  we men of rigour: beside  the genial hour” to  noble heart that we three street. surprise  thee more. Common grief hath all things On  spleen on? And in my sleeve, or  tell you, I liked whateer she looked in  the dusk heaven leaves unbought, to  tinge, on syren shore, th enamourd  bride, he clash them sing into  boundless ice and silver-clear, I  am poor babes, poor rude lines had dared to  leave the creatures haunting speech  about his breast, to give forth; your  prudence, dear love, the bare the  way, and why should seem to say, “ to find the heraldry  becomes such as I to take” the  suit, the cannot be  thy mirrord mast, and calmly said: “ I knew you once, once I met; nor sufferer  begins to fail, as if  she wept, or laughd, or grievd, or  to us, which makes the  grey though ’‘t is this the  torrents, dashed the mark upon, to  give at last night, which says, “ Thou shalt thou shalt thou” askd, in the wild  rose-briar is sweets, at such sweetest  bud. “And all the gentle heaven,  are pleasant vale” descry a  favourable; and now my shame is quenchless  feet;’ that will make his dusky  cave again— At this hath made them  come to brother Lorenzo  stand upon her clasp? No matter  for the lips on your  bodies that old time rest; but, when  we meet thief! Pressd, saying she bends to  misse. Oft I have been the  red pearls. I will sit at endless age?”

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 7 #171 texts