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the end of the universe
Sep. 18th, 2015 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alicornucopiaHere and now, for multifarious definitions of "here" and a hopeless confusion of "now":
there is a bar.
there is a bar.
alicornucopia
spell_eternityEveryone knows that mysterious old ladies are kind of a big deal.
Yes, anyone who is female (or wraps up in sufficiently mysterious shawls) and old enough could pretend to be a mysterious old lady, but the actual category of the creatures is a different matter, and one can often tell (though it's better to be on the safe side, when identifying them).
Mysterious old ladies can, in a certain sense, do magic - or help you do magic. Sure, if you decide to take the first milking of your new cow and leave it out in a bowl in the backyard with a garland of roses floating on the surface and then drink it all first thing in the morning without stopping to put on your shoes or comb your hair, nothing will happen. But if you do it because a mysterious old lady told you to, and it was a real mysterious old lady, and you followed all of her instructions? Then you will find that you will get whatever result she advertised.
But if you step into your slippers first or tug a knot out of your ponytail or drink the milk early or late or use daisies for the garland, you will get something else.
It's very important to be exact and careful about these things.
Compared to what happens if you disobey a real mysterious old lady, being occasionally made a fool of by some pretender to the title because your eyesight is going or you were too sleepy to note her lack of a proper mysterious aura is nothing.
Yes, anyone who is female (or wraps up in sufficiently mysterious shawls) and old enough could pretend to be a mysterious old lady, but the actual category of the creatures is a different matter, and one can often tell (though it's better to be on the safe side, when identifying them).
Mysterious old ladies can, in a certain sense, do magic - or help you do magic. Sure, if you decide to take the first milking of your new cow and leave it out in a bowl in the backyard with a garland of roses floating on the surface and then drink it all first thing in the morning without stopping to put on your shoes or comb your hair, nothing will happen. But if you do it because a mysterious old lady told you to, and it was a real mysterious old lady, and you followed all of her instructions? Then you will find that you will get whatever result she advertised.
But if you step into your slippers first or tug a knot out of your ponytail or drink the milk early or late or use daisies for the garland, you will get something else.
It's very important to be exact and careful about these things.
Compared to what happens if you disobey a real mysterious old lady, being occasionally made a fool of by some pretender to the title because your eyesight is going or you were too sleepy to note her lack of a proper mysterious aura is nothing.
usually not here
Aug. 29th, 2015 02:20 pmonceandforallBella's on her way to kill a witch.
It usually hits Port Angeles, inspires arson, and then if allowed spins off a familiar that does the same in Forks. She's tracked it back far enough that she can reliably head it off before it makes that fellow set that apartment building on fire as long as she hops in the car without doing her hospital exit paperwork. If she's lucky, this time she's early enough to nab it before it lights up the bakery, too.
...The fuck is that? It's not usually there.
It usually hits Port Angeles, inspires arson, and then if allowed spins off a familiar that does the same in Forks. She's tracked it back far enough that she can reliably head it off before it makes that fellow set that apartment building on fire as long as she hops in the car without doing her hospital exit paperwork. If she's lucky, this time she's early enough to nab it before it lights up the bakery, too.
...The fuck is that? It's not usually there.
an innocent patch of empty air
Aug. 27th, 2015 05:55 pmalicornucopiaIt has never done anything wrong. In fact, none of the air in the patch has, even when it has been in other patches. It's so innocent.
purposeful_gloryOne moment Loki is trying to kill the snake-monster before it gets any closer to civilization, and then next -
She jabs at its face, but with momentum intended to meet resistance, and there is none. With momentum intended to compensate for a dodge on the part of the creature, but it surges forward. She's engulfed, and then there is no snake, and there is no ground, and she's falling.
She gasps. The air is clean; she doesn't need to heal poison out of herself with each breath. She sees - floating land, of sorts, there, some kind of oddly geology-themed ship maybe. She could, potentially, turn Lævateinn into something with enough surface area to steer herself onto it rather than fall farther and suffer worse from the fall, but she just recently perfected a new...
She's a bird, a swift, and she catches the wind, and her spear is a twig clutched in her feet, and she wings her way to the land.
She jabs at its face, but with momentum intended to meet resistance, and there is none. With momentum intended to compensate for a dodge on the part of the creature, but it surges forward. She's engulfed, and then there is no snake, and there is no ground, and she's falling.
She gasps. The air is clean; she doesn't need to heal poison out of herself with each breath. She sees - floating land, of sorts, there, some kind of oddly geology-themed ship maybe. She could, potentially, turn Lævateinn into something with enough surface area to steer herself onto it rather than fall farther and suffer worse from the fall, but she just recently perfected a new...
She's a bird, a swift, and she catches the wind, and her spear is a twig clutched in her feet, and she wings her way to the land.
holy place
Aug. 11th, 2015 12:23 pmshe_sells_seashellsMy alternates tend to take over the world. Advice available. Rates negotiable.
Shell Bell puts up her sign and nibbles her most recent charity meal. Not potatoes! It is not potatoes. Or fish or clams. It is rice and curry and a fruity yogurt drink. That nice person told Bar she could use his tab for four meals, and this is meal number two.
Shell Bell puts up her sign and nibbles her most recent charity meal. Not potatoes! It is not potatoes. Or fish or clams. It is rice and curry and a fruity yogurt drink. That nice person told Bar she could use his tab for four meals, and this is meal number two.
does not anymore work
Aug. 7th, 2015 06:56 pmcampanasHere, in a place where she is quite an unexpected sight, is:
an eight year old girl with brown-flecked white wings, looking dismayed and lost.
with Prime (Aestrix)
with Edie and Emily (Maggie)
with Gloria (Maggie)
with Gren (Rockeye)
an eight year old girl with brown-flecked white wings, looking dismayed and lost.
with Prime (Aestrix)
with Edie and Emily (Maggie)
with Gloria (Maggie)
with Gren (Rockeye)
holly hols
Jul. 28th, 2015 12:20 pmchanuphisWhen Christmas hols roll around, everyone goes home.
And Renée makes a suggestion and Miranda sends some owls, all with the same underlying invitation:
Mum wants to go shopping in Muggle Edinburgh and said I should invite some friends. You can Floo in or she can pick you up by Apparition, as you like, and we'll get lunch and she'll have you home in time for supper. Want to come?
She invites Karen and Jenny and Emma and Alli, and as an afterthought also Vivian, since she and Karen have been friendly and another muggleborn might ease Karen's jitters.
And Renée makes a suggestion and Miranda sends some owls, all with the same underlying invitation:
Mum wants to go shopping in Muggle Edinburgh and said I should invite some friends. You can Floo in or she can pick you up by Apparition, as you like, and we'll get lunch and she'll have you home in time for supper. Want to come?
She invites Karen and Jenny and Emma and Alli, and as an afterthought also Vivian, since she and Karen have been friendly and another muggleborn might ease Karen's jitters.
a very traditional adventure
Jun. 23rd, 2015 08:45 pmabeanceJann is on his way to the Caves of Fire and Night to retrieve a standard quest item therefrom. There is some forest (not of the capitalized or enchanted variety) between him and the entrance. He weaves his horse through trees. Ho hum. Whenever he gets under a relatively clear area of sky he consults the sun to confirm his direction.
calescentAleko has a girlfriend. It's therefore about time Kiri had a personal assistant who can fill in for him. It's really overdue; he's looking forward to sleeping late. Jayce puts out the job ad (Kiribel Ardelay seeks personal assistant; must be comfortable with mindreading), Aleko sets up to do initial interviews. Kiri will narrow it down once he's got a few viable candidates but she's too busy to go through dozens of them.
truly madly deeply
Jun. 5th, 2015 08:19 pmher_imperial_radianceSomehow Mama never manages to be nearby when Elspeth finds this place. Mama would exploit it; Elspeth is happy enough to come in and get some of that gold fizzy stuff. (And bring more of it home for everyone else.) Mama has given Elspeth fairly minor exploitation-type errands, but Elspeth has pointed out that major ones might make whatever causes the door to prefer Elspeth in the first place stop favoring her so much. (Bar certainly doesn't know; it's all guesswork - but Elspeth can't rule it out, which gives Mama pause. She does show Mama everything that happens while she's there, anyway.)
So when she finds it in the cafeteria instead of finding the cafeteria, she and Jake go in, and Jake orders himself nine inches square of deep-dish lasagna and Elspeth has a bubbly and asks Bar to recommend her a book. They sit in a booth and watch the stars explode.
So when she finds it in the cafeteria instead of finding the cafeteria, she and Jake go in, and Jake orders himself nine inches square of deep-dish lasagna and Elspeth has a bubbly and asks Bar to recommend her a book. They sit in a booth and watch the stars explode.
rip tear shred
May. 26th, 2015 05:55 pmimeanforeverPromise is on her way from the library, where she has been allowed the privilege of an hour's study of sorcery - directed in topic, but she was allowed to take (relevant) notes, and read (relevant) books, and was only lightly supervised.
Thorn sometimes likes to butter her up, such as it is, before calling her to his room. She thinks he's running elaborate multivariable experiments on what puts her in a marginally more or less cooperative mood. The obvious confounding factor is that after having been buttered up she has to walk to his room. Also, on this particular occasion, she was not allowed to heal herself of her (relatively minor, but still painful) injuries before she went to the library. She did her research with shredded wing-edges and a black eye and an almost decorative crosshatch of bright red cuts down the backs of her legs. This is Thorn, so it wasn't thoughtlessness, but she hasn't speculated much on what it is instead, besides - Thorn.
She walks carefully -
There's a ripple in the air. She walks right into it.
And then she is elsewhere. She can no longer make meaningful progress towards her appointment, so she stops walking. Her eyes flick left, right -
Well. It would be hard for this to be worse.
Thorn sometimes likes to butter her up, such as it is, before calling her to his room. She thinks he's running elaborate multivariable experiments on what puts her in a marginally more or less cooperative mood. The obvious confounding factor is that after having been buttered up she has to walk to his room. Also, on this particular occasion, she was not allowed to heal herself of her (relatively minor, but still painful) injuries before she went to the library. She did her research with shredded wing-edges and a black eye and an almost decorative crosshatch of bright red cuts down the backs of her legs. This is Thorn, so it wasn't thoughtlessness, but she hasn't speculated much on what it is instead, besides - Thorn.
She walks carefully -
There's a ripple in the air. She walks right into it.
And then she is elsewhere. She can no longer make meaningful progress towards her appointment, so she stops walking. Her eyes flick left, right -
Well. It would be hard for this to be worse.
redundancy
May. 21st, 2015 08:06 pmchanuphisMiranda is looking at wands. She wants two, but she isn't going to spring that on Ollivander until she's found a first one. This fir is not right. Neither is this birch, that stubby little rosewood, or this ebony. Hmm.
Aha!
This pine wand (phoenix feather core) likes her just fine. Sparks! Miranda pays seven Galleons for it and sticks it in her hair.
"Excuse me," she says, when Ollivander turns away.
"Mm?"
"May I have a look at some more wands?"
"Something wrong with the one you've got, Miss Swan?"
"No, sir, but please, I want a second one, in case this one gets lost or damaged."
"Planning on that, are you?"
"No one plans to lose things, I just -"
"Planning to mistreat the wand? Leave it lying around? Forget about it someplace, carelessly handle it -?"
Aha!
This pine wand (phoenix feather core) likes her just fine. Sparks! Miranda pays seven Galleons for it and sticks it in her hair.
"Excuse me," she says, when Ollivander turns away.
"Mm?"
"May I have a look at some more wands?"
"Something wrong with the one you've got, Miss Swan?"
"No, sir, but please, I want a second one, in case this one gets lost or damaged."
"Planning on that, are you?"
"No one plans to lose things, I just -"
"Planning to mistreat the wand? Leave it lying around? Forget about it someplace, carelessly handle it -?"
the only part that makes sense
May. 15th, 2015 09:03 ammiddlingalongAunt Cordelia is going to be away for a while rescuing Miles's long-lost brother. She is concerned that in that time Miles will become so absorbed in his magic netsite that he will forget to eat, or something, which seems entirely plausible, insofar as anything about this situation seems plausible. She would like Ivan to come visit and make sure Miles is looked after. Ivan can do that. Mercifully no one is trying to get him to do any of the things involving this madness that he could not do. Also, conveniently, he doesn't want to be in his apartment for a while because a guy he hooked up with is deeply confused about how interested Ivan is in a long-term arrangement that involves flowers and cute little notes and is having trouble picking up on standard communication about that as anything other than Ivan being a closet case or something. So it's just as well.
Ivan drives up to Vorkosigan House with a suitcase and goes to check on Miles.
Ivan drives up to Vorkosigan House with a suitcase and goes to check on Miles.
where you draw the line
May. 11th, 2015 03:03 pmertiaKithabel is sitting on the flat top of the tallest tower of her palace, forcing the rain to decline to fall on her, taking a break insofar as she ever takes a break. She has no constructive ends to pursue right now, so she's playing with the lightning in the clouds overhead. She doesn't want to try taking a direct lightning strike yet - she could probably take it, but only probably - but she can tell it to arc here and there in patterns, she can ball it up and watch it roll through the air, she can make it turn colors. She's making sure none of it hits the town, and if it starts a fire in the woods she'll take care of it, but at the moment it's a toy.
odd little alucine
May. 11th, 2015 01:20 pmaffodellIt's never previously occurred to Cayra to put a door across an alucine boundary, but now that she's encountered it in practice it makes sense. It makes it visually obvious and it lets you lock it if you want. This door wasn't locked, and it looked like it led to a public bathroom, not a bar, from the signage, so she's still confused. Still, it's a good idea. She twists open the glass vial pendant around her neck and bends her head to the little blue lily inside to make a note of it; as an afterthought she tries to send it off to her antheomancer-chatcircle, anything to have a decent conversation, but it doesn't go. Her flower doesn't look wilting, but she can put it back in the garden and get a fresher one for the vial later. At least her personal files look okay. She closes up the vial again, giving the flower a touch of antheomancy for its health, and finds a bathroom inside the bar that dominates this little alucine.
And then she emerges into the bar. It doesn't seem to be staffed. Or stocked. Why wasn't it locked?
Hello, anybody here?
with Flynn (ErinFlight)
with Harry (andaisq)
Due to some icon rearrangement errors, some of Flynn's tags appear with an incorrect icon. The correct face for this thread is Rosario Dawson's.
And then she emerges into the bar. It doesn't seem to be staffed. Or stocked. Why wasn't it locked?
Hello, anybody here?
with Flynn (ErinFlight)
with Harry (andaisq)
Due to some icon rearrangement errors, some of Flynn's tags appear with an incorrect icon. The correct face for this thread is Rosario Dawson's.
why me, or more to the point why him
May. 10th, 2015 10:57 ammiddlingalongIvan has just returned to Vorbarr Sultana after a stint on Komarr, where he was filling in for some guy who was on leave for some reason. Home, sweet home. Time to clean out his kitchen, he left on somewhat short notice. He does that. He doesn't have a girlfriend to call. His mother insisted on meeting him when he landed so he's already done his due diligence interacting with her. Hmmm.
He calls Miles.
He calls Miles.
greeting cards
Apr. 20th, 2015 02:45 pmhatchedplanMay and Isabella write Joel the white stag leader of the Christina Lake Regional Avalon. He is surprised. When he calms down, he has some suggested tweaks, which they make, and then they start envelope stuffing, a task accomplished substantially with magic.
They include, after some deliberation, a fundraising scheme: Isabella can heal people and they're planning to run around visiting lots of Avalons. If anyone would like them to visit their Avalon sooner rather than later, they can bid on the privilege, and while they're anywhere Isabella will heal needy parties. (They suspect, but have no affordances to test immediately, that May might be able to soak up some of the side effects of the healing, like an eaten spell. They mean to find this out as soon as possible.)
Before they mail out the final letters, it occurs to May to call her friends back in Toronto. She starts with Alli.
They include, after some deliberation, a fundraising scheme: Isabella can heal people and they're planning to run around visiting lots of Avalons. If anyone would like them to visit their Avalon sooner rather than later, they can bid on the privilege, and while they're anywhere Isabella will heal needy parties. (They suspect, but have no affordances to test immediately, that May might be able to soak up some of the side effects of the healing, like an eaten spell. They mean to find this out as soon as possible.)
Before they mail out the final letters, it occurs to May to call her friends back in Toronto. She starts with Alli.
