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baldwin-montclair · 6 months

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Baldwin’s Nightingale (Part 20)

Characters: Baldwin Montclair/OC

Timeframe: Can safely say AU at this point, after Matthew and Diana go back in time and before they return

Summary: After escaping Benjamin (and Gerbert) with help of Rebecca’s magic, the trio arrive in Sept Tours. Questions demand answers, secrets are revealed and the newlyweds encounter a serious challenge to their marriage.

Spoiler Warning: TV Show canon S1-S2, goes AU after that, some Book of Life

Tag requests: @christi14 @poemfreak306 @pookie-cleary @hofficoffi @stormyheart326 @wonderlander594 @madamquacklemore @thereadersmuse @kynthiamoon @ordinarymom1 @fuzzyflowervoid @maybelightning @lady-lazarus-declermont @whoa-studymuch @shugensha

The Story So Far

Alisha swallowed hard as nobody moved for several seconds. Baldwin and Marcus had been interrupted mid-fight and the rest of the gathered creatures stood in reflex to the vampire brawl about to blow through the room.

“Becca,” Miyako grabbed her cousin’s arm, pulling her back, and putting herself between the bright-born and, potentially, her father.

Understanding what was possibly about to happen, Alisha joined Miyako in front of Rebecca.

Baldwin released Marcus and carefully regarded the three women.

“I see you returned my wife, safely, thank you Miyako,” Baldwin’s voice dripped with sarcasm, “I’m sure she simply got lost when this witch abducted her from the safety of her home.”

“You know she didn’t kidnap me,” Alisha answered back, causing both Miyako and Marcus to regard her with wide eyed fear, the latter even shaking his head in the hope to discourage her from provoking him.

“You know who I am,” Rebecca spoke up, drawing Baldwin’s ire from his wife and his daughter.

“I’ve known both who you are and where you have been for the last two weeks.”

“You let us think our friend was lost and in danger for all that time?” Nathaniel fumed.

“It was for their safety, the decision had nothing to do with you.”

“Stop this,” Ysabeau interjected calmly, regarding Rebecca with a flash of warm familiarity that Baldwin luckily did not see.

“That magic, I know it,” Sarah shook her head in confusion.

“You called her Rebecca.” Emily addressed Miyako.

“And Montclair called her a witch.” Sarah agreed.

“A witch and a vampire,” Marcus added, “with Matthew’s blood.”

“Papa,“ Miyako started carefully.

“Stop talking,” he warned and fixed his gaze upon Marcus.

“Take Madame de Clermont to our rooms, do whatever checks you need to do to ensure she is well.”

Marcus took a breath to argue but the look on Baldwin’s face was one he knew well.

Disagreement would not be productive.

“I’m fine,” Alisha argued, “and I’m staying with Rebecca and Miyako.”

“Miyako, escort our guest to my office,” Baldwin continued, ignoring Alisha’s protest, “I suggest the smaller reception room for your gathering Ysabeau, this one is much too draughty for warmbloods.”

“Wait-“ Sarah started but was led away by Em and followed behind by Nathaniel.

“Alisha, please,” Marcus held out his hand to gesture she lead the way and follow Baldwin’s directions.

Annoyed but with Baldwin, not Marcus, and not wishing him trouble, she relented and led Marcus and Phoebe to the turret.

Ysabeau glanced at her granddaughter then to Baldwin when the others had left.

“You know who she is?” He challenged.

“She has my blood, of course I know who she is.”

Baldwin sighed deeply crossing his arms and leant against the table.

Ysabeau recognised the exasperated, exhausted look as one frequently displayed upon his father when the strain of holding everything together became apparent.

She knew why he was struggling but would never say it as it would not be constructive.

He needed Matthew.

Alone, he was one half of the equation, the rod. Matthew was the carrot, Philippe had told her so himself, only together could they make things work.

Now, she believed for the first time that even Philippe failed to foresee the effect both of their mates would have on this equation.

“I will speak with her and Miyako, then, if you wish, you may converse with her.”

“What about Marcus and her aunts?”

“Of course Marcus can, but there is no way I’m telling my sisters about this.”

“Nor would I but I meant Diana’s aunts.”

“This is a family matter, the witches aren’t family.”

“They’re her family!” She told him firmly but carefully.

“Very well,” he grumbled and stood.

Ysabeau smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, leaving before he could process the caring gesture and before she could see the almost imperceptible quirk of a smile.

“Here,” Phoebe handed Alisha a glass of water from a nearby carafe, “drink this, you’re white as a sheet.”

Alisha noted her giving a concerned look to Marcus, in the process of him checking her pulse and blood pressure.

“Thank you,” Alisha took the glass gratefully, “Phoebe.”

“Vitals are fine and since I value my life I won’t ask what got you so afraid.”

“I’m not…” she trailed off as she saw Marcus regard her with doubt, “it’s best for both of us if you don’t.” Alisha agreed quietly.

“You’re concerned your husband would harm you?” Phoebe prompted.

“Phoebe,” Marcus warned.

“I know vampires have their rules, Marcus, but I won’t just sit back and let that…fucking brute abuse her.”

“Baldwin has never harmed me, and he wouldn’t,” Alisha assured her warmly, “but if I were ever in that situation I’d want a friend like you.”

“We’ll be family soon,” Phoebe corrected reaching out a comforting hand towards her shoulder, stopped only by Marcus catching her wrist firmly but gently.

“She’s been gone for two weeks, any new scent near her could set him off.”

“Your sister is a new scent.”

“No, she’s not, I can’t explain it but she seems to have my grandfather’s blood as well.”

“I thought vampires couldn’t have children biologically.”

“There’s a lot we’re still learning but it has happened before.”

Marcus looked questioning at Alisha.

“I can’t, anything I might say could change how things are supposed to play out. Only Rebecca knows what’s safe to tell. I hope you understand.”

He nodded with reluctance.

Gallowglass hadn’t answered his call when Baldwin sought to tell him about the appearance of the trio.

It was not like him but Baldwin hadn’t the time to ponder before Gallowglass called him back.

“Something happened,” Gallowglass started as soon as Baldwin accepted his call, “I followed them to Venice but they’re just gone-“

“Stop, Gallowglass,” he sighed, “they’re here, they’re safe! And you didn’t answer when I called you!”

“I was busy. How did they get there?”

“You told me about the witch, seems she inherited her mother’s abilities.”

Gallowglass heaved a deep sigh of relief and chuckled.

“I should have known that wee pissant Benjamin wouldn’t have gotten the best of Miya.”

“Benjamin,” Baldwin fumed, “Fuchs, Matthew’s fuckup that keeps on giving was near my wife and my daughter?”

“According to Domenico, who’s still alive but barely. His children are looking after him.”

“Leave now, go to the airport, my plane will be waiting for you!”

“I’m not afraid of Benjamin, or that decrepit old pope Gerbert.”

“Gerbert is working with Fuchs?”

“Aye, but I can handle it!”

“If Gerbert and Fuchs are working together it’s not safe, they probably killed Peter.”

“I’ve seen off more Christians in my time than you have, Uncle, I can handle this one.”

“I’m not arguing with you, come home!”

“You know France has never been my home, not after-“

“I know, I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right, France may not be home but we are, I expect you here by the morning.”

There was an audibly furious silence on the other end of the line.

“Yes Sieur.” Gallowglass hung up.

Baldwin sighed with relief.

Even in death, Hugh would never forgive him if he let anything happen to Gallowglass on his watch.

Shaking the thought off, he strode towards the office where his daughter and the witch awaited him.

“Is everything alright?” Rebecca prompted.

“Of course,“ he took his seat opposite them, “so just how far ahead in the future are you, exactly?”

“Eighteen years.” Rebecca answered.

She knew her uncle, he could be kind, affectionate and generous with his time but she also knew of his impatience when information was critical.

He nodded solemnly.

“I suppose I already got two thousand years, I probably shouldn’t lament a shortness of time.”

“There are things we cannot tell you about the future-“ Miyako started.

“And yet I know if I was there I’d never have let this happen.”

“Father-“

“Does this future include Benjamin Fuchs?”

Miyako and Rebecca glanced at one another, shocked.

“Gallowglass was following you, at my behest but he lost the trail when you appeared here.”

“Is he alright, did Fuchs attack him?” Miyako asked.

“He’s fine, apparently Domenico was forthcoming with his version of events.”

“He’s alive?” Rebecca asked hopefully.

“He’ll live,” Baldwin regarded her curiously, “Gallowglass will be back soon but in the meantime, you’re going to tell me why you sought out Domenico.”

“Father, your rules, as you said-“

“I am aware of what I said, but I am also aware that you already changed things by removing Catarina from her time!”

“You know-“ Rebecca started.

“No, I suspected,” he answered sharply “now I know!”

“We saved her to prevent something worse happening in the future,” Rebecca admitted, “we didn’t know then that she was your mate and our intention was not to reunite you. Obviously fate intervened.”

“I suppose Michael was someone from your time you could trust?”

“One thing changed since he won’t be there now.” Rebecca confirmed.

“Anything else drastically different?”

“Knox, he shouldn’t be dead yet.”

“But there’s not too big a jump.” Miyako countered.

“Keep going!” Baldwin warned and noted Rebecca’s anxious expression.

“Emily,” she admitted, “Knox was killed because he killed her first.”

“I’m sorry Papa, I know I’m not your Miyako-“

“Stop talking,” he warned her, “you tried to act the same and your effort was commendable, cbut I know when my daughter is behaving strangely.”

“I wasn’t behaving strangely.” Miyako frowned, offended by the insinuation her cover wasn’t sufficient.

“I can count on one hand how often you called me Papa before you visited for the wedding, I estimate you came to this time just after I sent you to Seoul?”

“Yes.” She said in quiet defeat.

“Never tell me you are not my daughter because in anywhere at anytime, you will always be my Miyako. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” she paused, “Papa.”

He smiled warmly and turned to Rebecca.

“Gallowglass couldn’t tell me much more than what you shared when you first arrived.”

“And I knew you would understand the danger of messing with the timeline, as Grandad did when Mum and Dad visited him.”

“Messing with the timeline,” he huffed, “you have done a lot of that already. Does my wife know, who she was?”

“There’s knowing and there’s remembering. She knows she was Catarina but doesn’t remember being her.”

“Alright, what doesn’t she know that I have to?”

“Something happens in the future that forced us to go back to fix things. Because it’s related to future events, we can’t tell you.” Miyako explained.

“We got Catarina to make this video before the spell, insurance policy.” Rebecca placed a memory stick on his table.

“She agreed to you taking her memory?”

“Suppressed. She wanted a complete wipe, to protect you and what she knew about our family. I convinced her to do it this way instead.”

“She’s started remembering her ability to understand written and spoken language.”

“Michael’s elixir,” Miyako agreed, “he had it created so that if anything happened to him, she would remember who she is. It wasn’t part of our deal.”

“So she’ll gradually remember?”

“In time.”

“Is she a threat to herself or to others?” He asked pointedly.

“No.” Rebecca assured

“Absolutely not.” Miyako echoed her cousin’s sentiment.

“Very well,” he confirmed, feeling slightly more assured, “I would encourage you both to remain here although I suppose I cannot prevent your leaving, given your talents.”

“As the head of this family and with my father absent I ask for sanctuary, Sieur.”

“Granted. I suppose you will enjoy spending time with your Grandmother, brother and cousin, when he shows up.”

“And you?”

“Me, what about me?”

“If you have time I was hoping you’d take me on a hunt. I am half vampire.”

“Matthew actually allows you to hunt?”

“No, he didn’t teach me.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t question her further.

“Marcus can supply you with bagged blood tonight, first thing tomorrow all three of us will go on a hunt. I’m curious to see my training at work.”

Alisha stood upon hearing the door open.

Baldwin entered with an expression she couldn’t read easily. He wasn’t angry but nor was he contrite.

That was fine, neither was she.

“Marcus assured me you are well.” He said simply, shrugging himself out of his jacket.

“I was safe with Miyako and Rebecca, of course I’m well.”

Baldwin was turned away from her when she heard the cuff-links drop into a bowl on the table.

“And yet,” he turned back to her, “mistake or no, they almost served you up to a sadistic little cretin”

She didn’t say anything, unsure as to what she was permitted to reveal.

“That wasn’t their their fault.”

“You’re right,” he stalked closer, “it was yours.”

#baldwin montclair #a discovery of witches #baldwin de clermont #trystan gravelle #adow #baldwin’s nightingale

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pythosart · 5 years

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A BUNCH OF LOUS Some demonic force possessed me to try and make a guide to all 700 of my AU Lous. My brain is too busted to let me pay attention to my other ocs so I guess all 3% of my creative energy capacity goes toward iterating on this one. And guess what, I cherish them ALL Short bios/AU explanation under the cut (oops it’s long)

ORIGINAL FLAVOR BLADES LOU: Lou as initially designed, though some aspects of their backstory and personality changed as I got to know them through roleplay. Halfway through the story they took a kinda edgy turn and got deeper into cult stuff and afflicted with a worsening vampiric condition. Right before we ended the game for good, they had just died and come back as a full on, undead vampire.

Fae AU: The first AU, that kinda started it all. Stemmed from a cultist dream thing in Blades, where Lou was the prey in an Erlking-style nightly hunt. In the fae version, they’re a sylph changeling and the only child of a fading fae queen. Their arc in this deals with them struggling with their humanity and nearly succumbing to the soul-sucking influence of their mother, before ultimately restoring her “humanity” and saving themself THROUGH THE POWER OF LOVE Cult AU: Kinda started as a Blades offshoot, coulda shoulda woulda AU where we play with ideas we wish we could have tackled in the game. Quickly became its own thing, set actually on Earth in the Prohibition era (but low magic urban fantasy) Lou is French and was rescued from the middle of a WWI battlefield by Aphotis, a goddess whose own cult had just been massacred. She was as desperate for a believer to sustain her as toddler Lou was to not die. They escaped to America as refugees and Aphotis raised them as her own, and as her caretaker and dirty-work-doer in her quest to regain power. Along the way, Lou was (perhaps intentionally) introduced to an infectious piece of a primordial god, that gave them some shapeshifting abilities at the cost of rapidly draining the life from them and twisting them. Aphotis works to keep them alive, while keeping a memory-wiped copy of them (created by this parasitic god piece) around to do her bidding. This isn’t two instances of Lou, it’s one Lou with two bodies. Same person. My personal story borrows a lot from this AU as well as my character Esther’s old story Mary Sue AU: Initially a joke exercise to write intentionally terrible fanfic (as if Dom were writing about their friends in Blades) that of course became its own thing. Lou is obviously a vampire, with most of the traditional vampire rules and weaknesses. Their Tragic Past gimmick is that they were staked in the heart while still living, as bait for their vampire queen mother. It worked, she turned them postmortem, and as a result they are much weaker than a typical vampire. They also suffer a curse to stay within the bounds of their family’s ancestral castle, which has since become a prestigious university. They also become a fluffy black cat-bat thing either at will or when too weak to sustain a full sized body. Their line of vampires usually turns into cats, but Lou is a fuckup Pirates AU: Pretty straightforward. Lou is called June in this one, and is the mutinous first mate of Captain Inkblood (Cookie), who totally does it for attention. Their secret is that they became a pirate to dodge student loan debt. Stayhome AU: “Blades, but what if the formative incident for your character never happened” Lou never gets caught by the Governor’s program to round up street urchins and send them to work-school, and instead ends up working on a shrimp boat. They never develop the world-weariness and scheming nature of canon Lou, instead devoting their intellect to learning everything about shrimp, shrimping, and shrimp boats. Insert Forrest Gump scene. Eventually their crew gets captured and ransomed by pirates, but no one ever pays up for Lou, and they end up pretty happily living with the pirate crew Western AU: Gee I wonder why this big city doctor picked up and moved all the way out here to the frontier, it couldn’t possibly be because they’re running from the law. Narrator voice: They Were. Lou is a terribly unethical doctor with a reputation for experimenting on patients, and a taste for arson. After getting chased out of town and blacklisted all over the west, they find themself joining an outlaw band, as their doctor. Here, they start to learn compassion and humanity and not being a total bastard... ...until they somewhat accidentally burn a particular bounty hunter’s face off with a firebomb, and she carves them up in return. From here on, their arc is a test of their learned compassion and breaking a cycle of bloody revenge. Horror AU: Starts off as a classic summer slasher movie, with Lou as a college student with a bunch of shitty “friends” destroying a campground and partying until they draw the local monster’s ire. The monster (Dom) kills several of them, kidnaps Lou after Lou hides their fear behind sass and clearly isn’t like the destructive campers. Lou learns more about the monster and even starts to warm up to them, especially after discovering they can boss the monster around. Lou successfully escapes but runs right into a horror swamp where a nasty worm zombie pukes worms into their mouth and infests them. As the infestation progresses and nearly kills them a few times, Lou learns that the worms are intelligent and actually adore their host, and also that they can be bribed. By the end of their arc, Lou has mostly achieved symbiosis with their worms and avoided becoming a zombie,. They eventually must face off against the monsterified Queen of the Preps, Tiffany, who was similarly infested but never achieved that symbiosis. Minecraft AU, no really: Lou was a skilled tailor, and a total workaholic. Their ambition netted them a contract for a huge order of clothing for a duchess’s wedding on an extremely tight deadline, and Lou, knowing this could make them for the rest of their life, poured everything into it. They worked themself literally to death, dying of sleep deprivation. Distraught, this unfinished business drove them to make a devil deal of sorts to keep working, and they were granted this undeath, for a price. They slowly became more and more like a Phantom as they worked, never sleeping, and feeding on the dreams of those who do sleep. By the time they finished and emerged to present their achievement, they were monstrous and were chased out of town. From then on, they had lost their passion for their craft, and wandered the wilderness, sneaking into towns at night to feed on dreams, and fighting to retain their humanity as they become more and more phantom-like. Anyway I love this one so much I might make them their own non-minecraft character LotR AU: Lou is a hobbit, entrusted with the destruction of a certain magic ring. Unfortunately, they are much more corruptible than one Frodo, and early on abandon their fellowship, driven by paranoia the Ring has been growing within them. They run into a feral Mirkwood elf raised by giant spiders, and a giant orc raised by a Beorning farmer, and the three of them embark on a weird little Ring Quest of their own. TBC AU: Lou is a quiet, social outsider high schooler, with a bitter hatred for bullies and a knack for really disproportionately nasty “pranks” directed at said bullies. Too smart for their own good and with a taste for theft, Lou is a straight-A student who has been arrested for carjacking before. They end up as part of the Blackout Club after discovering their adoptive mother’s involvement with the Chorus, and out of sheer curiosity about the secret goings-on under the town. And in no small part for free run to break into houses and smear chili oil on the hands of sleepers who inconvenience them, because Lou is a bastard and has yet to learn empathy. Which, as usual, is kinda their arc here. Make friends for the first time in their life, learn empathy, get sucked into the orbit of a fairly nasty god/Voice, classic Lou stuff AND THAT’S ABOUT IT

#my art #lou #blades in the dark #why have many characters when you can have one

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dredreadsdrawing · 4 years

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Oc-tober day 8: Sadness

I also made an animatic which is why this took a day longer to post (cuz my video didn't wanna export ewe) Here!

Recalling my past Final Girls story posts, I mentioned Lottie befriends a girl that was a defect of the outcasts. This is Spirit. A trans gal overwhelmed by anxiety and trying to fit in. It's noticeable but I'll point it out anyways, she has a lazy eye. I love her to bits oof. Her story goes as follows.

She's been Bo's, the eventual head of the outcasts, best friend since they were children. Growing up together, he knew her by her deadname and was the only one there for her when she came out during highschool. She didn't expect to have someone on hee corner, nevermind someone as protective as him. He waa always looking out for her, making sure she appeared normal... Calling out her flaws when she didn't. All with good intentions of course, so that she could blend in better.

Blending in was her priority. It became her anxiety.

They graduated and went to the same university. They became roomates, and though they went to different departments, she would always spend her extra time at his building, hanging around his fellow classmates. He soon got a group forming that wasn't... The best.

Outcasts, they called themselves. The odd ones out. The newly marginalized. The ones that society was stepping over.

She really hid it deep inside herself what group Bo was really forming. How they looked and sounded to outsiders. Especially on a campus so diverse, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

She never got along with the other outcasts, and they never paid her much mind. She blended into the background, only watching, never engaging in their heated discussions of injustices. She was only there for her friend.

A semester in, life with Bo is going well. Beinf roommates came naturally to them, and they feel a lot closer now. A bit too close. A night without reservations, they end up having a fling. They wake up surprised, but neither runs away.

They realize they could fill each other's needs in a new way.

For now. Atleast thats what he keeps cementing. He thinks friends dating is too complicated. But fucking? Sure. No strings attached is great.

And Spirit isn't complaining. She gets a bit delusional with her expectations of the future, too sure of her place eventually changing.

When in comes a girl that takes Bo over in one clean sweep. She runs the group now. They're all over her. All the points she makes, all her plans and visions for the future. She's inspiring.

Spirit's gut sinks fast.

She never spoke out because she naively hoped Bo would let go of his prejudices. He'd been so supportive of her, afterall!

But his biases are being set in stone more and more each day. He's grown entitled and angry. And Spirit is afraid.

She can't get through anymore. Hes furious whenever she tries to make a point contradicting his world view. The night before the big plan, she gives him an ultimatum.

He calls it off or she's calling the cops.

He calms down. He tries his coaxing voice. He tells her they can talk it through and she melts like butter into his embrace.

Then he beats her. He locks her in his room. He takes her cell phone, tells her he'll let her out when they're done, and he's gone.

She's left sobbing on the floor, shame welling up for all her inaction and letting him get to this point. She was so stupid. So careless.

.... People were going to get killed.

She stops her pity party and she calculates. She breaks the doorknob. She hotwires his beat up truck. His backup pistol is still inside.

She feels this is her responsibility. She's going to make ir right.

At the scene, the bloodbath has only just begun. Victims scatter and the outcasts hunt with ammo to boot. But one of them stays behind when he notices Bo's truck.

Bo had told them Spirit wasn't up for this.

He smiled at 'her' seeming change of heart. More than the privileged minorities, he hated people like 'her.'

It starts off with the facade of friendliness. He's happy she made it. She aims the gun at him. He's surprised, but he points his shotgun back.

She wouldn't do it. She was always soft-

A shot to the shoulder. She apologizes for missing. Another to the neck. That's better. He drops down, gurgling, clutching his wounds. He's dying, and he's so fucking pissed off about it.

She doesn't have time for his show. She stomps forward, her real target in her mind.

She won't cover for his ass anymore. She's going to kill Bo.

Passing through, she knows where to find him, but it takes a while. She doesn't want to waste more bullets on the others, she only has four more, so she has to hide.

Once she finally reaches the main house, she quietly comes up the stairs and prepares. She's shaking but she's willing. This is her redemption.

A shot rings out and deafens her ears. She bursts through the door.

The girl that took over has killed Bo.

She smiles at Spirit's entrance.

"Here to pick up my sloppy seconds?"

She laughs and waves as she sits on the windowsill.

"He wasn't my type anyways."

She slips outside.

Spirit let her go.

She wasn't her target. It was Bo. And now he was done.

She feels so hollow, looking down at him. So unfinished. The four bullets in their chamber feel heavy.

She looks beside him and notices a book. One the girl had kept close to her person ever since she met her.

She picks it up. She opens it.

A scream rings.

She can still help someone.

She tucks it under her arm and walks to the source of the sound, but finds Lottie already there. Already done.

A single girl from the victims is still alive. She may be the only one. They crowd together, explaining snippets of who they are. They're on the same side. But Lottie has to go.

She leaves the survivor to Spirit's protection to take care of her own business. They find a cellphone and call the cops.

As they wait in the night, jumping at any sound, the content of the book is in the back of her mind. She saw a diagran of sorts. Looking like the symbols Christians would fear.

Before the authorities arrive, she decides to hide the book. She won't let them take it. She'll come back for it later.

Once everything is said and done and they are saved, it's thanks to Lottie and the other girl's alibis that Spirit gets to walk free. They only know of her helping, not of her one murder of the night.

Days after the investigation concludes with the death of all culprits, she returns to the scene of the crime. She gets the book. And she opens a door.

There's a way to summon back a soul, it promises. Spirit is a believer of many things. She's willing to give this a try.

The end for this part lol.

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theinvulnerabletide · 7 years

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1-J for whoever your newest OC is.

GeezAnon, you really know how to show a girl a good time. I guess I have to do Whisper the Abyssal Tiefling Sorceress, since you asked sonicely and I guess she is my newest character period.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR OCs

1. What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sitstill with nothing to do?

Whisper tries so hard to be patient,she really does, because the person she’s pretending to be is infinitely patient.But she gets antsy and bored very quickly. Unless she’s waiting with a specificgoal in mind, it’s like a few minutes before she starts shifting in her seat orpacing, or falling asleep. If she’s got a reason she’s waiting though, she canusually sit there much, much longer.

2. How easy is it for your character to laugh?

Very. Whether it’s a real laugh or afake one though is a toss-up.

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading,singing, thinking?)

Thinking, definitely. She startsremembering home and wondering how everyone there is doing. She probably endsup praying to her god to watch over them before finally drifting off.

4. How easy is it to earn their trust?

Not easy at all. She’s been told thather god’s enemies are everywhere, so she never fully lets her guard down withanyone outside her sect. There’s people whose motives she understands, peoplewho she trusts to an extent, but only a handful she trusts completely.

5. How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

Very easy. Especially since she’slooking for reasons not to trust you.

6. Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

Flexible. You can get away withanything if you know how.

7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoythat feeling?

Snow, probably. Great bodies ofwater. Castles and the like. It used to be a very painful feeling, and it isstill, to an extent, but after 8 years from home she welcomes it every now andagain.

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as achild?

She was often told to stop botheringthe servants, and, when she got older, sneaking out of the castle. And she was toldto get back to her studies quite a lot (she hated sitting still, so getting herto study anything except her magic was almost painful for her—even her catechismsweren’t as important as actually doing something).

9. Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word?

Not often? Not unless she’s doing itfor a reason. Or if things are really going wrong. And her first swear word was probably “shit,” right after hearing her olderbrother say it.

10. What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does ithaunt them?

Whisper lies about everything, downto her name and her past and stuff she knows. And it never bothers her, because she’s doing it toprotect her family.

11. How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretendthey understand, etc)?

It depends on what is most useful atthe time. If she really needs to know something, she’ll seek clarification andquestion someone until she’s (more) blue in the face. If she’s not interested,she’ll pretend to understand.

12. How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’tquite reach?

That’s what mage hand is for.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actuallylook best in that color?

Well, her skin is a deep indigo, soshe usually goes for cool colors, purples and greens, or stark white to offsether skin and match her hair. Once in a while she’ll go for a rich yellow, butonly if she’s trying to draw more attention to herself—she thinks she pulls itoff quite well.

14. What animal do they fear most?

She’s not a fan of horses, but shecan tolerate them. I think she’s more freaked out by rats. There’s always somany of them, and they’re not afraid of running up and biting you. She probablyhad a few run ins with them in the castle dungeons.

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of onthe spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

She used to just burst out withwhatever was on her mind, but she’s since she left home become a lot more circumspect. She’llthink about something before she speaks to make sure it doesn’t give too muchaway now.

16. What makes their stomach turn?

Not much. She’s used to corpses andweird rituals as her normal.

17. Are they easily embarrassed?

I think she laughs off most anything,but there are a few things that hit her.

18. What embarrasses them?

She really doesn’t like it whenpeople draw attention to how she looks. She tries to be brazen about it, walkthrough the world like she doesn’t look any differently, but she does getslightly embarrassed still when people stare and point at her out on thestreet.

19. What is their favorite number? 9.

20. If they were asked to explain the difference betweenromantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so?

She wouldn’t. She’d turn thequestion around and make them answer.

21. Why do they get up in the morning?

Because she has a mission. Hergoddess isn’t going to resurrect herself!

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they becomepossessive, they become aloof, etc)?

She’s not usually jealous of people?Like she doesn’t get close enough to people to be jealous of them spending timewith other people or something. But I think she would become aloof andreactionary—like she’s not feeling jealous, why would you ever think she wasfeeling jealous that’s not a thing.

23. How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what theywant, they become resentful, etc)?

She didn’t want for a lot when shewas a child, but once she left, stealing really became a thing. So she’d tryand take it if she really wanted it that badly.

24. Is sex something that they’re comfortable speakingabout? To whom?

In general, she tries to pretend she’scomfortable with anything. It’s expected, after all, she looks demonic, so she’sthought to be up for anything, so she will talk about it like she knows 100%what’s up whenever it’s brought up. But in reality, she’s like a 17-year-oldboy who is trying to impress his friends. She’s never had sex and she has onlythe vaguest anatomical ideas of what sex is and why people want it.

25. What are their thoughts on marriage?

That it’s a thing you do for dutyand to further your family line, and that she was too special to be forced intoit.

26. What is their preferred mode of transportation? Sailing.

27. What causes them to feel dread?

Dry desert places probably.

28. Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasanttruth?

The unpleasant truth.

29. Do they usually live up to their own ideals?

She mostly lives up to them, or shetries to. The “church” she was raised in as pretty screwed up ideals though compared to the rest of the world.

30. Who do they most regret meeting?

I think there are some towns she regrets going to, but no one in particular sheregrets meeting. Yet.

31. Who are they the most glad to have met?

Outside of her family and the otherpeople in the castle, probably Ignatius and the rest of the “circus” she joinedafter leaving her family.

32. Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or ajoke?

I don’t think so. She always changesit up, and they’re probably all fake.

33. Could they be considered lazy?

No, she’s pretty active.

34. How hard is it for them to shake a sense ofguilt?

She doesn’t feel guilty very often.She’s basically been raised to think whatever she has to do in service of hergod is justified, so there’s not a lot that she regrets or feels guilty about.

35. How do they treat the things their friends come tothem excited about? Are they supportive?

Oh, definitely. She’d get superexcited about it too.

36. Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it tofall into their lap?

She does not seek romance out, shethinks she’s got more important stuff to concentrate on. But she did read a lotof like sweeping adventure novels as a child, so she does get crushes a lot,she just doesn’t act on them. And even if one fell into her lap, I don’t thinkshe’d let herself reciprocate.

37. Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists ofnumbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, puttingthings to melodies, etc)?

She would probably have little songsshe sings under her breath.

38. What memory do they revisit the most often?

She has a lot she revisits. Basically,anything of her memories from home, spending time with her brothers before heryounger brother got sick, running around the catacombs with the servant’schildren, sneaking out of the castle with her brothers to explore the woods inthe middle of the night. The rites her family and their circle preformed. But the thing she revisits the most is leaving the castle. Her brother Eamon—herapparently human brother, whose eyes shine just a little strangely in directlight, grabbing her on the shoulders and telling her that he was going to makesure to bring her back as soon as the danger has passed.It’s been 8 years. She hasn’t seen him since.

39. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people?

She actually doesn’t want to ignore them. Flaws are a thingshe can exploit or play with should she need to. If she notices it, shedefinitely takes note.

40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

I don’t think she’s very cognizantof her personality flaws tbh.

41. How do they feel about children?

She loves children. She doesn’t particularlywant one, but she thinks they’re wonderful. She’s just shy of interacting withthem, because of how she looks and she doesn’t want to draw the ire of theirparents.

42. How badly do they want to reach their end goal?

Very, very badly. It’s what she’sbeen raised for, what her entire family line has been working for. It’s herdestiny.

43. If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how wouldthey do so?

She would either go into superdetail about who she’s attracted to and what she likes (even though she hasabsolutely no idea) or she would just shrug.

QUESTIONS FOR CREATORS

A) Why are you excited about thischaracter?Because her point of view is so strange. She was raised in a cult, man, and she’strying to resurrect a god that is probably not a god anymore, if they ever werea god and not just some demon who is playing with a bunch of humans. Basically she’s primed to bring about an apocalypse by accident, and I am superexcited about it.

B) What inspired you to create them?

To be quite honest? Strix from Dice Camera Action.That whole thing with her aunt and that creepy cult in her basement, and theaunt hinting that Strix’s teiflingness is from deals they made with dark powerssounded super cool. So I just took that and ran with it.

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where theyfit in their own story?

Her story built around her race/class build and theabove kernel, so she fits into her own story pretty well. Figuring out herpersonality was difficult though. And it does fluctuate.

D) Have they always had the same physicalappearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

She’s always looked the same in my head: indigo skin,white hair and eyes, black ram’s horns, sharp incisors, barbed tail.

E) Are they someone you would get along with?Would they get along with you?

She tries to get along with everyone, if only as adefense mechanism. She’s actually very sweet in my head, very sunny. At leastshe was when she was younger, and I think if I could get past her mistrust,then we could be pretty good friends.

F) What do you feel when you think of your OC(pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

Excitement. I can’t wait to see how her story rollsout.

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

Her mistrust of everyone is going to be a hurdle, and I don’t like being at odds with the party. But it’sin her best interest to at least pretend to get along with them, so hopefullythat won’t be too much of a problem.

H) What trait do you admire most?

Her drive. She’s away from her family and the peopleshe cares about, in a world that distrusts her or at least looks at her strangely,and while it would be easy for her to just return home, she doesn’t feel likeshe can. She has a goal and an inner compass pointing the way (which isprobably a very Wrong Way to go, but still), and she’s going to get there.

I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canonuniverse?

I mean, I might import her into my books. We’ll seehow it goes and if I need a good patsy-slash-villain.

J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canonfactors to allow them to create their character?

I mean I had to create afew, but I don’t think I had to exclude anything.

#ask me about my characters!#whisper the tiefling sorceress #kori screams into an indifferent void #long post for ts

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winterviewz · 7 years

Text

Frankie Ennui Suburban Lawns

When I first discovered your band I heard Talking Heads and Devo in your sound instantly. Is that the sort of thing you were listening to at the time?

Absolutely. I think several band members went and saw one of Devo’s earliest, if not their earliest, L.A. performance and came back raving about it. I am still the proud possessor of Devo’s first single, in the very cool cover it came in, Mongoloid backed with Jocko Homo. All of us were fans of the Talking Heads too, of course. Eno, Iggy Pop, Television, Richard Hell, and lots of other new wavers or punk rockers were also on my personal play list at the time

Which clubs did you play, and with which bands?

Well, we played all over the place here in the L.A. area. The Masque, The Whiskey a Go Go, The Hong Kong Cafe, Madame Wong’s (both of them), The Roxy, The Country Club, Club 88, the Cuckoo’s Nest, etc. A lot of our early shows were thrown at our own studio in Long Beach. We’d charge $1 for each band that was playing and usually had two guests bands. The ones I remember off hand were The Plugz, The Minutemen, The Brainiacs, The Alley Cats and The Suburbs (friends of Su’s from Minneapolis)

I think we played the Masque couple of times, with groups like The Bags. The first such gig might have been under the band name Art Attack or Fabulons (which we later changed to Suburban Lawns). On one of those occasions, The Ramones were in attendance and later that night we went and saw The Ramones at the Whiskey

We played with nearly all of the local groups in those early days. Beyond the groups already mentioned, we played with The Dickies, X, The Germs, Black Flag, Geza X, Human Hands, The Reactionaries, Fear, The Vandals and a ton of other local great bands

We played quite a few opening gigs for Oingo Boingo (including a show at the Whiskey when they were still the Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo). Danny Elfman was a big fan of Su Tissue. We also opened for Oingo Boingo at the John Anson Ford Theater and the Universal Studios Amphitheater and did at least a couple Halloween gigs with them at Cal Arts

Later, when we were with IRS Records, we opened for U2 at the Santa Monica Civic, opened for the Clash at the Sacramento Auditorium and played with other fairly big names like Siouxsie and the Banshees, 999 and Bow Wow Wow

What a unique vibe. All the bands were great. I think Vex (Billy) had some connection with Tex and her Horseheads for a while there. The OC scene was happening too, but the details, these many years later, escape me

And you played Magic Mountain..

Magic Mountain was probably our biggest (and best paying) headline gig. Great facility, loads of enthusiastic fans and we got to go to the front of any ride line that we liked

KROQ was a supporter of the band, and Rodney particularly, and you were on SNL. Did you think at that point you were going to have a career with SL?

Rodney and all the folks there at KROQ were great. Rodney loved Su too

Doing a video with director Jonathan Demme for Saturday Night Live was a real highlight. What a down to earth and nice guy Jonathan is. He later put one of my songs (with a band called Electric Sheep) in one of his movies, Something Wild (in which Su appeared)

Yeah, we had a recording contract on a label that had lots of top flight bands (the Go Gos, REM, etc.) and we were on T.V., we were making a little money and we were optimistic about the future but…

How did the band write?

Initially, I weaseled my way into the group that eventually (after Su came on board) became the Suburban Lawns by jamming with the other guys and offering up some lyrics for some of their music. At first, most of the music was written by Billy (Vex Billingsgate) Ranson, our bass player (and also a singer) and John McBurney, our lead guitar player, and I would contribute lyrics. So, at least initially, John and or Billy would come up with a riff or two and I would then try to write lyrics to match. That was how Gidget Goes To Hell was written: Billy wrote those great riffs and I added the words. Su added her unique vocal styling. Other songs, like Janitor, were created when John and Billy came up with the music, I wrote most of the lyrics and then Su added the infamous “Oh my genitals, I’m a janitor” tagline. Eventually, even Chuck “Roast” Rodriguez, our drummer, started contributing music, as in Mom and Dad and God, where he wrote the music and I added the words. By the time we did the Baby EP, however, we were collaborating less. The best stuff, in my opinion, was created by way of our collaboration

Do you have any favourites? I really like Protection. And Not Allowed and Mom and Dad and God..

My favorites are probably Green Eyes and My Boyfriend, but I love them all. Protection is a favorite of mine too

You wrote the lyrics to Janitor after some conversation you overheard between Su and a friend, is that right?

No. Although on Wikipedia (and elsewhere) it has been written that I overheard a conversation between Su Tissue and Brian Smith where the “Oh my genitals! I’m a janitor!” originated and that such conversation inspired me to write the lyrics, that story is somewhat backwards. The music and all of the lyrics except “Oh, my genitals! I’m a janitor!” were already written when Su Tissue added those lyrics (which lyrics really made the song, in my opinion). For good or bad, I’m generally pretty literal in my lyric writing (as opposed to poetical) and I’m not shy about using bad puns

Su was definitely more of a poet than I have ever dreamed of being. The lyrics, except for Su’s contribution, are pretty straightforward science-nerd stuff about all things explosive. Su’s addition, whatever the source (and I have no reason to doubt what Brian Smith has apparently written about how Su came up with that addition), gave the song a poetical spin that added the dimension it needed to make it interesting. That’s exactly why, in my opinion, our best songs were those that were written collaboratively

Was the Baby EP the last thing you recorded together?

Sadly, yes

After SL split, you formed the Lawns. Was that going to be a direct continuation of SL, with new band members, or was there a change in musical direction?

Actually, I think (despite what you may have read on the Internet) that Vex (Billy) was not part of that effort. I think it was Chuck, John, a great (now deceased) friend named Tom Corey (of The Fibonaccis) and yours truly that tried to keep things going. Su and Vex went their own way. But it wasn’t anywhere close to the same thing without them. That band, The Lawns, eventually fell apart and/or morphed into the Electric Sheep, where we had David Kendrick (from Sparks and later, Devo) drumming and a friend of mine named Gloria Dawson, singing. We were trying to get into more of a hybrid thing, mixing R&B with punk, but it didn’t catch on for us

Do you think perhaps you were a couple years too early, and with MTV a household name you might have been bigger?

Probably. MTV was around (barely) and we made at least one video (Janitor) other than the video that was on SNL (Gidget), but it was tough to get airplay in those days. We began a video for Mom and Dad and God but it was never completed.

The Tea Party. A fascinatingly ill-informed, emotionally-stunted and easily-led group of middle American folk. All supporting the very people who are destroying them. Talk about “asleep at the wheel.” Is America more divided now than you can ever remember?

Yes, unfortunately I think it is, although ironically it seems nearly certain that we are going to end up with two relatively moderate politicians running for the presidency in November, Obama and Romney. No thanks to the Tea Party, however. The “I’m willing to drive the country off a cliff unless I get my way on spending cuts, but don’t tax the rich” attitude of the Tea Party People is disturbing and especially so where the economy is already a mess. Not that the U.S. Government doesn’t waste a lot of money, however, because it does. Not sure how the U.S. became the world’s policeman and why war seems to be the answer to every international dispute, but I’m pretty sure it has a lot to do with money. We need, at least to some extent, to get the money out of our politics, but our Supreme Court apparently differs with me on that one

What you said about supporting the people who are destroying them is, in my opinion, accurate. Why so many in the middle class support low taxes on the wealthy is difficult to understand. Maybe its an aspirational thing. Its puzzling and frustrating

What did you do after music?

I worked in computers for a while and then went to grad school to become a teacher. I taught history and social studies at a high school in Santa Ana for about a week and half before quitting and going to work for an attorney friend as a receptionist. Eventually, I went to law school and have been an attorney here in Newport Beach for about the past 20 years

But I have never stopped playing music and writing songs. After Electric Sheep broke up, I started playing with some old friends from junior high school and am still playing with those guys (John Bitterly, Mark Handley and, later, Rick McDermott) to this day. Our band is called Johnny Mark and the Ricks (for obvious reasons). We play all originals. Our theory is that if we keep writing songs, eventually we’ll come up with something good. One of our most recent songs is called “”T Party People” in which I attempt to channel James Brown and Sarah Palin at the same time. It’s not easy. We can be checked out atjohnnymarkandthericks.com or on facebook, etc. Our next gig is on Cinco de Mayo, Saturday, May 5, 2012, at DiPiazza’s in Long Beach at 8:00 p.m. Any encouragement received will be appreciated, but not necessarily good for us

My good friend, Billy (Vex), has, in recent years, been playing with former Suburban Lawns, John and Chuck. More about Billy and the others can be learned at www.myspace.com/pulsatormusic. Enjoy!

You channel James Brown and Sarah Palin at the same time? Maybe something like: “You can see Russia, hit me nah!… From my hou..hou…house-ah! Good god, ain’t it funky nah! YAAAAAAY!!” I can’t recommend the Suburban Lawns album highly enough; if you’re into art rock, and 80s New Wave, or if you like the B52s, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich and/or the Flying Lizards, you’ll probably love Suburban Lawns too

Thanks Frankie

#suburban lawns #frankie ennui #madame wongs #the masque LA #su tissue #janitor #gidget goes to hell

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