#also does this make Arabella right? gross.

[mirai-desu]

On the MSATD News

I didn't have time to post a knee-jerk reaction (which those of you from the Downton days know I was apt to do - thank you to all my long term mutuals of my side blog for sticking with me through those days), as I saw the news as I was getting ready to head out for work and it's been… a bit of a day.

Suffice it to say… I am devastated. And my initial reaction was (well after cursing), that it should have ended with S4, but with a different (happier) conclusion. It's called Miss Scarlet AND THE DUKE for a reason. And after all that happened in S4… it really feels like… what was it all for?? Especially if they knew WHEN FILMING THIS?? "Goodbye for now" is NOT "goodbye forever." They really, really really fumbled this.

There's a lot of theories going around, and I will admit it's too hard for me to listen to Stuart's new interview, but going off what other's have said and the parts of the transcript I did manage to read… I just cannot feel like this was actually his decision unless there's something else going on with him (either in his personal life or maybe he has some secret role he's got, because supposedly he hasn't worked since he did ADR on S4). He's been the captain of the ship, and he has always been enthusiastic with discussing the show and had just great insight into playing William. It doesn't feel like he himself was ready to move onto other things (and that's not even how it's worded - some BS about how the show needed it him to be gone for ~longevity~ of the show), like I've seen with other actors are on shows (e.g. Dan Stevens). He still promoted S3 (which came out in the UK after they filmed S4), he still even promoted S4! He was an executive producer for S4!!! Nothing makes sense!

So if it's due to RN… why keep having the other characters say William was only going to be gone a year? Why bother to have the flashback? why bother to have him stay at at Eliza's to recover?? hell I'm surprised they just didn't keep in the coma then--

But really, why even bother to have Eliza write to him? Or have Ivy say what she said to her?? The time apart was supposed to be them looking at their options. They literally foreshadowed him joining Eliza at her agency upon his return. So… what happened?

If it was actually for personal reasons that Stuart left, he has a right to his privacy. But then they should have rewritten S4 to be the end then, since they knew all this time. I can't believe we are getting the full story on this, one way or the other. The more and more I think about it... I do think it was RN's doing though.

Just two nights ago I drafted up a whole meta extolling how one of the best things this show has done has been how they developed William and how he grew as a character. The progression he made as he not only accepted Eliza having a career but encouraging her. His mentorship of Fitzroy. How he came from nothing, from a teenager living on the streets, to become an inspector at Scotland Yard. But they have chosen to toss that all out the window.

Who knows, maybe S5 ends with Eliza deciding to go to New York. But it doesn't seem like they are handling this like Babington's absence in Sanditon. They will make Eliza quickly fall for someone else, and slap fans in the face who have been following their friends to lovers slow burn for five years (because we had to wait for S2 in the first place thanks to the pandemic). And what sucks is that we still got promo saying they are in love with each other. From Stuart, from Kate, from Rachael New herself. We have still gotten promo promoting the romance. Why not have them have a big fight then or something, idk. They gave us hope. And you know what Fellowes says about false hope.

So I'm just supposed to believe that William gives up on Eliza and doesn't return…? No, I cannot. As much as we hated the deaths on DA when they wrote out actors, at least those characters still died in love with their spouses. And while I'd still be foaming at the mouth in anger if they killed him off… yeah.

William's last lines of the show is a flashback including him saying "is it all worth it?" And the answer is… no it's not.

#yeah I'm risking putting this in the tag #miss scarlet and the duke #msatd spoilers #honestly thinking about every damn scene they ever had #WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR #thought of the jewelry store scene and died #also does this make Arabella right? gross. #also I guess Alibi doesn't give a shit about the ratings for the last two episodes left to air in the UK #also I didn't bring up Theo J*mes because he left after S1 and it was different #if they recast William with Ben Lloyd-Hughes I'd take it #(wouldn't be the same but you know) #but don't make him a new character it doesn't work here with William still alive #I'm tired of men going to America #iykyk

[ryttu3k]

BG3 update, exploring Reithwin, a new team member, to about midway through Moonrise Towers!

Little snippety bits, team banter, etc that I've smushed into one image because I have a limit here:

*eyeing that 'unknown elf' listing* Also I love how Astarion is genuinely bullshitting in the blood-taste bit because we know he hasn't been drinking thinking-peoples blood aside from enemies and, once, Tae.

Anyway. To Reithwin! Delightfully spooky, honestly, the atmosphere here is fun. Managed to talk three enemies to death - the tollkeeper (who reminds me of corrupted No Face in Spirited Away?), the absolute creep in the House of Healing, and, after the world's grosses drinking game, the bartender. More on the latter two later!

At the cemetery, we meet Arabella! Who has... picked up some new skills.

Of course she can stay at camp while we look for her parents!

Into the bar for the world's worst drinking game. Plus side, got a boatload of approval from Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel from it! And some... really nasty mental images!

"Really? Right in front of my drink?"

Stopping to camp for the night. Getting some much more genuine Astarion when asking if Cazador has other spawn. Larian let me hug him as a friend.

Karlach brings up the whole... Gale thing. Which I still feel bad about tbh.

On a more depressing note, telling Arabella about her parents hurts ;_; Apparently not everyone gets the scene that follows, so I'll include a Youtube link to it here! Man, given Withers'... everything, I have to wonder just what that destiny will involve!

Honestly, though, I goddamn adore him as a character. Even if he does warn Tae not to get distracted by Karlach XD;;

Not the only intriguing camp companion we have, apparently!

Speaking of companions, visiting the House of Healing and retrieving Art's lute allows us to progress with starting to end the shadow curse, and properly recruiting Halsin!

I really like when you can let companions speak for themselves, you get so much more lore, like letting Lae'zel speak at the creche.

Once Thaniel is restored, Halsin officially becomes a member of the Brainworm Squad, albeit minus a brainworm! The companions have assorted things to say about him (including Wyll calling him a 'thick hunk of an elf'), and Tae gets to know him better. He likes honey and knows it's funny! He likes whittling! He likes whittling ducks!

"I like ducks :)"

(Tae has officially decided he's their new grandpa now. The other companions have... less familial views, apparently!)

Back to the mission! Heading to the Thorm mausoleum, and oh dear, look what the cat dragged in...

After getting some good advice to skip the mausoleum until prompted to go there later, we turn back, and this time, make for Moonrise Towers itself! (Minus Halsin, with the narrator very helpfully reminding me that, hey, may not want to bring someone without a brainworm there.) Discover some... concerning cargo:

Yeah, we, uh, took the canister and now it's just. Sitting in the traveller's chest. What do we do with it?

Into Moonrise Towers, witnessing a group of goblins attempt to kill Ketheric and. Completely fail. That's concerning!! Tae is instructed to deal with the remaining goblins and opts to let them go, because who knows? Maybe they'll return the favour one day. Karlach hears from an old 'friend', Florenta the Garrotter, a cambion from her Avernus days, and gets given some soul coins (albeit with a story attached to each).

Lots and lots of concerning bits of evidence, all pocketed. Stuff on recruiting drow, shadow druids, goblins, et cetera, invasion plans for Baldur's Gate, and - what have we here? Collaboration between Ketheric Thorm and Gortash!

We meet Araj. We meet Tae's extreme urge to punch her in the face. We meet Astarion's genuine surprise and gratitude at someone giving him a choice on what he does with his body for possibly the first time in two hundred years I'm gonna fuckin' cry. Larian let me hug him as a friend, part two.

We meet Steelclaw. Steelclaw I would die for you. ...Can we recruit her for the final battle?

That done, time for a prison break!

I don't like him much. Barcus sweetie you can do so much better. The tieflings are much happier to see us! (Lia: "Oh, you clever bastard. I could kiss you!" Cal: "Not in front of me, please. I've suffered enough.")

After the successful prison break, it's time for a rest. Is it weird to find, like, a 'realistic' place for them to rest? I used that office/tower in the middle of the prison, in the upstairs bit, where anyone awake could watch out for anyone approaching. Anyway, Gale has set up a hologram kind of... thing to invite Tae somewhere, finding him in a Weave illusion and in a... very melancholy mood.

Understandably.

Was definitely concerned this would lead more romantic. Thankfully, the game allows it to be played completely platonically, which is good as! Gale is a friend! A friend who's hurting and terrified and needs support and anyway Gale haters can fight me.

Genuinely beautiful scene, and I absolutely got misty-eyed.

Fight me, Gale haters.

Back to Moonrise. We do some more exploring, finding the third part of the tale of Orpheus. Lae'zel is... not impressed in the slightest. We also meet Ketheric's dog :( And private chambers. And stuff relating to his dead wife, and their daughter, who I have definite suspicions about. (It's Isobel, right? Isobel is Ketheric's daughter, right? Don't tell me either way, but that definitely seems to be the vibe I'm getting.)

We meet with Disciple Z'rell, and get a new mission - go to the Thorm mausoleum, and retrieve the artefact for Thorm. Now we can go! Also, at the least, she seems to trust us?

Back to the Last Light for some happy reunions! Alfira is ecstatic to have Lakrissa back (who proceeds to flirt with Tae, Lakrissa please their girlfriend is standing right there), Barcus is so excited to see Wulbren again... who doesn't appear to feel the same way.

Do you think Barcus would mind overmuch if Tae stuffed Wulbren in their pack and threw him back in a cell? Just saying.

Then back to camp for a rest, and a conversation with Astarion that punches me in the emotions!!

Full scene (including the initial confrontation with Araj) available here. The options I picked were, "Why has she upset you so much?", "Have you even enjoyed having sex, in these last decades?", and "You aren't a slave any more, Astarion, you're free."

Anyway that scene emotionally kicked my ass and I still couldn't even hug him. Larian let me hug him as a friend, part three!

#ry plays bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers

[grappel-writes]

Part 2 of Orion as a companion: approval/disapproval, how to make him leave the party, recruiting/dismissing, and some unique dialogue from interacting with the story.

Approves:

Political maneuvering. An alliance now, a betrayal later. Helping someone not necessarily out of the goodness of your heart, but because they could potentially help you later. Playing a situation to your advantage. This can be influenced as you guide him, to either use that sort of maneuvering for good for others, or to use it exclusively for selfish means.

Taking a moment to have fun. Orion comes from a life of leisure, and treasures his free time. Throw the ball for scratch, humor a kid, get on a stage, tell a bad joke. This world sucks, and finding the fun in it is the only thing that makes it worth living. He'll also approve if you send him on stage with Dribbles.

Succeed medical checks: help the paralyzed gnome, resurrect Gale according to his instructions, fix the owlbear cub's hurt paw. He admires healers, and any successful attempt at aiding another will win his approval.

For his personal quest, encourage him to follow what he actually wants to do, and not what he feels he should do. There are a lot of influences and responsibility put on him in his story that he can step up and handle - it's up to you to decide if he should or not though. Let him live his own life, and he'll appreciate it.

Disapproves:

Doom and gloom responses: pessimism and a defeatist attitude won't get you far with him. Between his unwavering optimism and sense of invincibility, he only sees this as a waste of time.

Encouraging him to do the right or responsible thing with no justification. He'll do it - but needs to be given a reason. Good leaders always explain why, draw the full picture, and demanding his support or obedience for no reason other than "because I said so" will piss him off.

Stealing the Blood of Lathander, or anything else that mocks, desecrates, or belittles a religious practice. While he doesn't consider himself to be a good representation of the faithful, he respects those that are.

Trying and failing to get him to accept the tadpole's powers. Similar to how Karlach and Wyll feel, Orion doesn't trust these things one bit. He could care less about the powers they provide, he's sure he's strong enough without them.

Evil aligned decisions in general: jumping to kill, being cruel, many Durge exclusive options all fall under this. When asked, he explains that he doesn't mind being self serving, but does it always have to involve mindless violence and gore? Surely all those people would be more valuable alive? (Bonus: he really dislikes grossness. He'll disapprove of touching slimy things, dumping blood on him, and complain loudly the entire time they're in the sewers.)

Can he be made to leave the party?

Yes, but not right away. Even with very low approval, he won't leave until the beginning of Act III. Once you're at Wyrm's Crossing, you'll find a note in your camp (like Arabella's and Volo's) explaining that he's gone ahead and gone home. Please, don't follow him, and no he won't be giving you the address. Like a good politician, he used your party and resources to get him this far despite how he feels about you, and now that he doesn't need you anymore, he's gone.

Durge specific: "I don't know what you are or what you're trying to do anymore. I thought we had a plan, an idea to save ourselves, but you've been sidetracked by bathing in blood. Best of luck with whatever game you're playing with the dead three, but I'll go it my own from here. For your sake, I hope we don't run into each other again." Additionally, during his storyline, if you kill his brother when he appears in Act III (either just to see if you can or to remove him as a political opponent), he'll leave your party. Defeated and broken, he'll tell you to finish your journey on your own, and if you ever cross paths again, one of you isn't walking away from the encounter.

Recruiting/Dismissing Lines

>Come with me, I've got people for you to hit. "I love when you say that. Ready when you are, just point and say march." >I need you to stay in camp. "Ah, sending me back to guard our friends and valuables? >I am. "I'm honored you trust me with that. I'll see you there." >Actually, never mind. Stay with me. "Of course, you're probably carrying all the good stuff anyway." Unique Dialogue Reactions (For Now) If you steal the blood of Lathander: He'll look genuinely sad for the first time at this point in the game. "Well... that's. I don't even know what that is. Probably the worst thing I've ever done, is what that is. I always did wonder if praying did me any good, now I know for sure it won't. No coming back from this one. Whoever holds my soul now, I just hope the take mercy on me." Trying to force through his sadness, putting on a smile. "But the mace is a sight to behold. I'm glad I get to see it up close like this."

After killing Minthara: "Just dead weight in fancy armor... I can't stand her type, you know. You're only as good as the men you lead, and acting like you're above them, not willing to get on the ground floor and help them when they need you... Well. Not like she did anything more than hide in the shadows anyway. No one's going to miss her."

Finding Volo: "Volothamp? The Volothamp! Oh-ho! I would throttle you if I wasn't raised better than that! I had to read every single one of your rambling tomes! So many lost hours to the most menial, and dubious, details!" laughs, taps his chest with a fist, he's in disbelief that he's meeting his childhood tormentor. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sorry it isn't under better terms."

Saving Oskar: "Do we really think he's going to make it on the road by himself? I guess if we see a trail of canvases, mediocre portraits, and paint we'll know where to find his body, at least. Do you think his patron would want him delivered if he were dead?"

The Reveal of the Emperor: "I feel... dirty. All this time, he was under our skin, swaying us and telling us everything we wanted to hear. All for his own benefit. I go back to what I said when we thought he was just a friendly guardian: I don't trust it. I don't like it. And we don't need him."

Gortash's Inauguration: "I heard about the Steel Watch, but never knew it would get this big this quickly. I know my father voted in favor of it, and knew I usually disagreed with the things he supported, but this is a new level of disgusting. Whether it happens amongst the patriars, or at the end of my blade, we have to see this taken down."

Saving the Duke: "Duke Ravenguard, pleasure to finally meet you. And save you. No worries - I won't cash in this favor until you're well and recovered, and the city doesn't have the looming threat of destruction hanging over it anymore."

#bg3 #tav headcanons #baldurs gate tav #orion #orion the companion

[dillydedalus]

2018 in books, half-time

this is some stuff about books i read so far this year and what i thought of them

also check here for a full list of what i’ve read so far, to be updated.... sometimes... when i think of it

best books so far

published this year: frankenstein in baghdad by ahmed saadawi (4/5*) (english translation at least, it’s originally from 2013 i think). tbh it’s also the only book published this year i read so far but it is really good so.

read this year: my sole 5* books this year so far are andrzej szczypiorski’s the beautiful mrs seidenman (I LOVE THIS BOOK PLS READ IT & PREPARE TO CRY ABOUT THE POLISH RESISTANCE & then talk to me about it. “a joke god tells the world called poland”) and shirley jackson’s we have always lived in the castle which was a reread but it’s perfect so WHATEVER

SOME other favs: exit west, street of crocodiles by bruno schulz, the flamethrowers by rachel kushner, the house of mirth by edith wharton (gerty/lily 4eva), the sea, the sea by iris murdoch

disappointments, just the worst etc.

i uh. REALLY didn’t like little fires everywhere. i didn’t have super-high hopes for it but i thought the topics of a superficially progressive community being confronted with their own racism & trans-racial adoption would be interesting but i found these to be really half-baked and the characters are just insufferable, especially the ones you are supposed to like (they are so SPECIAL and DIFFERENT and TALENTED guys!!!) and mia’s art is pretty cringe.

also, life of pi, which i read for uni, is mostly meh, a bit drawn out and kitschy but the tiger is cool but then at the end it hits you with that smug bullshit about how you prefer the story you just spent 300+ pages with to the one that is told over like. 2.5 pages AND THAT’S WHY YOU SHOULD BELIEVE IN GOD which is like... shut the fuck up yann martel

new releases that i want to read this year

tfw u preorder a book that’s not supposed to be out for another week and amazon forgets and sends it to you immediately anyway: naomi novik’s spinning silver. i adored uprooted with all my heart so my hopes are HIGH #dontletmedown

tommy orange’s there there

the winds of winter. I WANT TO BELIEVE & i will speak it into existence

the merry spinster. i love daniel ortberg and this year seems like a good year for fairy-tale retellings (@self bloody chamber when???)

the monster baru cormorant: in the first book baru did some things that i’m genuinely not sure she (or the book) can come back from so i’m excited (?) to see where this goes

biggest surprises

lmao i kinda expected to hate or at least be really bored with middlemarch because i don’t always vibe with those really long victorian novels. it’s good tho & i love dorothea with all my heart and also rosamond who is The Worst but really awesome at being The Worst

the short synopsis of the sea the sea sounds pretty boring which is why i always kind of avoided it but it is so good and fucking wild! i really didn’t know anything except ‘old theatre dude buys house by the sea & writes his memoirs’ and then every 30 pages the book just throws a curveball at you it’s great

the berlin library system FINALLY getting overdrive so i can read books on my phone at work lmao #bossmakesadollarimakeadime

best short stories

(i like short stories but the collections are usually a bit of a mixed bag so they rarely make it on the favs list)

“the tiger’s bride” by angela carter - see below

“the weirdoes” and “a better place” by ottessa moshfegh (homesick for another world): ottessa moshfegh writes awful, gross and unhinged people really well and these two were my faves

“arabella” by agnes owens: i found the complete collection of her stories to be so bleak and dreary that it got kinda boring but this one is dark-humour gem

“the husband stitch” by carmen maria machado (her body and other parties): i was overall a bit disappointed with this collection (tho i did have really high expectations so the disappointment is relative) but this one is just perfect. cw for BEING A WOMAN WHICH IS AWFUL

“the screwfly solution” by james tiptree jr. (her smoke rose up forever): this story fucked me the fuck up. it’s good but uh cw for.... femicide basically it’s a fun read

resolutions, challenges etc.

goodreads challenge: 53/90 books

my resolutions: read more german books (not going well at all lol), read more books in translation (going okay-ish), graphic novels (doing okay), books set in the MENA region (okay-ish), books set in scotland (not good), general diversity (going really well)

read some of the books.... i already have & have had forever.... instead of buying new books (guess how this is going)

best uni reading “THE TIGER’S BRIDE” BY ANGELA CARTER bc i too want to marry a sexy tigermonster! who doesn’t! exit west is really good too but to be fair i’d already read it before that seminar

themes that kept coming up for some reason

tigers! just tigers everywhere. humanoid tigers that are maybe kinda sexy, tigers on a boat that may be a symbol for blabla SHUT UP YANN JUST LET RICHARD PARKER BE A TIGER WHO DOES TIGER STUFF, to the unseen demonic forces whose name you cannot speak for fear in the sundarbans (the hungry tide) to... i’m sure there’s more tigers & i will take this as a sign that i should get a cat. or two. 

you know that abduction as romance trope video that’s going around right now? guess whose trash ass loves that trope. 

border crossing & that sort of thing. to be fair that’s the topic of one of my seminars but it also happened all the time elsewhere so we’re counting it

#this is really long and self-indulgent #but whatever. it's happening #the books i read

[thatsnotperiod-blog]

television. pilot. bbc’s jonathan strange and mr norrell is my favorite show i’ve never seen because its whole thing is making an interesting concept (magic) boring by piling on a regency setting, academia, and early 19th century british nationalism. 

Starts out with a raven. It seems hungry! Some guy is putting water and some other dumb crap (is that a broken pen?) in a bowl while his servants watch. He looks like a nerd. The magic didn’t work. But is he in want of a wife? 

He kind of bumbles out to a side street, and, TITLE. 

Sidestreet bumbler bumbles on past a bookstore and is observed in a sinister way by a man who looks really, really similar to him, but is actually a totally separate man. BBC original series are perilous like this. The sinister man is just getting a book so it’s fine though. Ah, Book People. 

Then a narrator tells me that, “Some years ago there was in York a society of magicians. They met on the third Wednesday of every month, and read each other long, dull papers upon the history of English magic.” The narrator is a dumb idea but just the phrase “dull papers” has my heart pounding. This narration is cut with Our Hero bumbling up to one such meeting, attended by the Most British-Looking Men Available, many in wigs. 

Our Hero is revealed to be an anxious-voiced dilettante called Mr Segundus and he wants to know, “Why is magic no longer done in England?” and his question is greeted with derision, which tells me a couple things, in order 1. that magic may be done elsewhere but certainly is not in France, because if the French were doing magic, Horatio Nelson would be doing it too 2. that magic is probably alive and well in Scotland 3. Mr Segundus must not be in want of a wife as clearly he is not in possession of a good fortune and Mrs Bennet will have to turn her sights elsewhere! 

Mr Segundus gets cornered outside by a man who introduces himself as Honeyfoot (lol) and it’s Brian Pettifer, one of the Several Actors of Britain! He was Couthon in that 2009 French Revolution movie, Mr Raggles in Vanity Fair, Wheeler in To the Ends of the Earth, Poupart (not Poptart) in the Musketeers, and many other things (Growler in Bleak House, Boycott in Garrow’s Law)! Good to see you, Brian Pettifer!

Anyway Honeyfoot (lol) is like, Mr Segundus I agree with you, people should be doing magic. But apparently the books about how to do it are super rare -- even in York! They hit up a book store, and seems like Segundus tried to reserve some magic books but the asshole store owner sold them already. Segundus, visibly deflated, asks if the guy has anything on “the nature of clouds” which, jesus, being a gigantic nerd in the 19th century is so fucking bleak if clouds is your fallback. OMG it was a ruse! While the guy is off looking for cloud books, Segundus hops over the counter and snatches the cash sheet to “find the devil who keeps swiping my books!”

Someone named Norrell, they discover, is the devil in question. They hop in a carriage to go find him. They talk magic on the way there, and Segundus says he bought a nonfunctional spell from a street magician who threw in a free prophecy: “Magic will be returned to England by two magicians.” 

Honeyfoot (lol) is like, “We are two magicians. John Segundus and Mr Honeyfoot (lol)” which is the same construction as the title of the show but ... not ... the right guys. Turns out the street magician set expectations already and Segundus shoots him down. RIP, John Segundus & Mr Honeyfoot, the Show That Never Was. 

They arrive at Mr Norrell’s pad and are admitted by the Sinister Bookstore Guy from earlier. Mr Norrell is a grouchy alpha nerd who has read Segundus’s publications but wants to throw out some criticism anyway. Segundus and Honeyfoot geek sweetly over Norrell’s library. Segundus repeats his question again and the camera zooms hard on Mr Norrell, who says, “It is a wrong question, sir. Magic is not ended in England. I myself am quite a tolerable practical magician.”

! O H S H I T !

Back at the York Society of Extremely British Men, this assertion is shouted down as “absolute tripe.” They decide that they’ll write to Norrell and ask him to show them some magic or shut up. 

York Minster. Nighttime. The Society approaches the front steps, observing that it’s the hour and place appointed but Norrell has clearly chickened out. 

“Mr Norrell concedes defeat!” says their beefiest guy. 

But then Sinister Bookstore guy (his name is Childermass, and I guess he’s Norrell’s servant) appears saying no, Norrell doesn’t concede shit, he’ll just be working from home today, and also he wants everybody to sign a contract promising they will no longer call themselves magicians if he succeeds at magic. Everybody signs, except Segundus, who is like “magic is my life u can’t take it.” Bleak.

Meanwhile Mr Norrell is doing a typical work-from-home where he’s watching Real Housewives of New Jersey in his PJs. Just kidding, he’s waving his hands over a bowl of water. How do people in this show keep themselves from accidentally doing magic while shaving?

The Society wanders into York Minster. Childermass, building his character, finds stuff to lean against. Bells chime.

And then, MAGIC! Some of the carvings at the top of the clustered columns in the nave are talking, and it is real creepy because they’re talking about a murder they witnessed, until the camera gets up there and they look like Statler and Waldorf. The York Society are all freaking out. 

Cut to the rood screen, which of course features statues of all the kings of England and they’re bickering. OK. There’s a Richard III joke which I tepidly laughed at. A carving of a woman with a harp is singing, and a statue of a former archbishop (as York Minster is, in fact, actually a cathedral) yells at Beefy in Latin.

Then the magic is over. Norrell, at home, collapses back in his chair, because a WFH day also involves a lot of early booze. The York Society is invigorated, then sad because they all signed the We’re Not Magicians paper. 

The next day, the York Society of No Longer Magicians is taking down all their signs (lol) while Childermass, building his character, leans back in their chairs and smokes. Segundus says he’s just happy that “magic is restored to England” but then, Segundus didn’t sign shit. 

“Do you think,” Segundus asks Childermass, “Mr Norrell would be offended if I wrote to the London newspapers of this?”

Childermass is like, yes he would be offended, but do it anyway: “I rather think my master has hidden his talent long enough. It’s time for him to take his place, and London is where I will take him.” 

OK then Mr. World’s Worst Press Secretary. 

Meanwhile! Elsewhere! A man rides a horse while Charlotte Riley (!) attends church. Horse Guy is bugging Charlotte Riley from the window, and she hilariously ignores him, but meets him on the way out. 

He’s listing the ways he has reformed himself for her, not playing cards, not flirting with anybody in Brighton (but the Bennets might be there!) not drinking as much, etc. His name is Jonathan, hers is Arabella, and apparently they are in love. All Arabella wants from him is for him to find “a way to occupy [his] time” instead of “perpetual holiday.” 

He gets on one knee, missing the point and saying that he sees he must act. 

“Jonathan,” she says. “Do not act. Think.”

The camera zooms to him to imply that this has not occurred before. 

*** IT’S DAD TIME ***

Jonathan is apparently being prevented from having any occupation by his Mean Old Dad, who tortures the servants and harangues his son for being useless. He sounds like the Mean Old Dad from Moulin Rouge a little.

But it gets worse! “You have proven yourself a failure at everything you have done,” says Mean Old Dad, “and you will have no assistance finding an occupation while I am yet living.”

Yikes! Later. 

Jonathan -- It’s Jonathan Strange, ok, it’s him, the other guy in the show -- is getting a drink with Arabella’s brother and probably venting about his Mean Old Dad. And, yep, there it is: “My father delights in torturing me, as he tortures his servants ... as he tortured my mother.” Wow, that’s the same word I used like two paragraphs up!

“All I’ve ever truly wished for was your sister,” says Strange, clearly thinking that is a sweet thing to say instead of a gross one. Arabrother leaves, and Strange empties a flask into his cup. wellllllllp.

Morning. Hangover. Someone is rapping at the chamber door. Strange’s servants are here to get him because his Mean Old Dad is locked in his office. Turns out he’s mean old dead!

Funeral. Strange triumphant. He wonders how long he should wait before asking Arabella to marry him. 

London! Norrell and Childermass in a carriage, reading Norrell’s press clips. He is causing Quite a Stir, which apparently is his intention, or Childermass’s. Norrell is pissed off that London is loud and expensive and that his WSJ crosshatch portrait isn’t flattering. OK, guy. They pass by a street magician who is talking about “the Raven King” and then gives Norrell the world’s weirdest stare. Norrell bitches that street magicians give the practice of magic an “such an appalling name” and Childermass does a stage mom thing where he tells Norrell that he is the only one who has any real talent and the future of his art depends on him: “This is what you have worked for. This is your great opportunity. If all goes well here, when folk think of a magician...”

“...They will think of myself,” says Norrell, with chilling self-reverence. Childermass gives him a little more pep talk and sends him out of the carriage. What -- what kind of dynamic did I just watch? 

New scene. Parliament. Somebody’s yelling, and -- is that Samuel West?! -- and Samuel West (!) is looking bored. Nobody told me Samuel West was in this show! Wow! Samuel West. 

Norrell is wandering boringly through the halls. 

Turns out Samuel West is the target of the parliamentary harangue (which is, from what I understand of Actual Parliament, just punching the clock for these guys) and has the decency to look a little ashamed of it. His name in the show is Sir Walter Pole, not Samuel West. He stands to rebut, and does so with all the sneering, grandstanding, and rhetorical posturing that constitute the parliamentary equivalent of “slow Monday.”

He tosses a zinger to the opposition leader on his way out, and Norrell tries to lobby him in the, uh, lobby. But Sir Walter just scoots into his office, and one of his servants shuts the door in Norrell’s face. The servant says, he knows Norrell has an appointment, but can they move the meeting to Chez Sir Walter instead of the office? 

Scene change. Chez Sir Walter. There’s a lady there who tries to snob Norrell, and it works until she hits on an academic subject. They discuss “fairy servants” and Norrell explains that fairies are trouble-with-a-capital-t-and-that-rhymes-with-p-and-that-stands-for-pool. 

The servant/scheduler from earlier is handing out tea, and we learn that his name is Stephen. 

Norrell states his intention: to use magic to help in the war. Sir Walter is totally snowed by this, and thinks maybe magic could be used to clean up uniforms or like, entertain people maybe? He Doesn’t Get It. Norrell, clearly the IT guy of his day, heaves a sigh.

There’s a young woman coughing pathetically and curled up on a chaise longue in the background, and Sir Walter introduces her as his fiancée Emma, like it’s totally normal to be this sick in somebody’s living room. Norrell is very surprisingly sweet to her, and she says she’s pretty into magic. Norrell suggests hot tea with lemon and nutmeg for her cough. Sir Walter kicks him out with a lecture: “Magic is not respectable. The government cannot meddle in such things.” OK.

“How’d it go?” says Childermass, back in the carriage.

“Very well,” says Norrell, on the verge of tears. I’m not letting go of the stage mom analogy because it seems to get more and more on the nose. Norrell notices they’re not going home, and Childermass says nope, they’re going Lady Godstone’s house: “It’s a soiree.”

“A party?” says Norrell, looking devastated. “I wish to go home and read a book.”

Norrell at a party. It’s like those MBTI specialized hells, and this is INTJ hell. It’s crowded, people are laughing, and Norrell doesn’t know anyone, but they’re all gossiping about him. Norrell escapes INTJ Hell and shuts himself in the host’s library, or INTJ Heaven. Ah, dichotomy. 

After a minute of Alone Time with Books, Norrell is interrupted by two Party People. Party Guy 1 is harassing the Party Guy 2, apparently the host, about how Norrell was promised, but no magic seems to have been did. “That gentleman is reading a book!” he says, of Norrell, to demonstrate how boring and amagical the party is. 

Norrell interrupts them and kind of says hi I’m the guy you’re talking about. They both recover awkwardly. Party Guy 2 introduces himself as Drawlight, and Party Guy 1 as Lascelles. Drawlight tries to drag Norrell out to introduce him to people and Norrell slips out the back. 

He’s met at outside by like the street magician from earlier, who says some creepy stuff to him: “You think yourself a very fine fellow, hoarding books like a miser hoards gold. But I have a book you won’t find in your library, or any other.”

Norrell tries to get back inside, but the doors have locked behind him. 

“It’s written by the Raven King,” says the creepy guy. Norrell makes the face I make when someone tells me they saw a spider in their shower five years ago, which is to say absolute living nightmare horror. “And it tells me all about you.”

Creepy Guy introduces himself as Vinculus, magician of Threadneedle Street, so abruptly that Norrell almost pees. He goes on that Norrell’s coming was foretold, and while he’s doing this he’s leaning in and menacing him in like, kind of an overboard way? 

Norrell scoots away and, feeling safer, snottily shouts that magic can’t tell the future and only total hacks make prophecies. He undermines this by continually yelling for Childermass. 

Vinculus keeps going: Two magicians will appear in England, one will be Fearfulness and one will be Arrogance. Some stuff will happen, both will fail, some other stuff. Norrell is stuck on the two magicians thing. Vinculus wanders off, and Norrell shouts for Childermass again. He looks really scared! 

Back Chez Norrell, Childermass is trying to calm Norrell down, and asks what Vinculus wanted. Norrell hysterics that he mentioned a book, “and if he does have a book, I want it, and then I want to go home to Yorkshire.” 

Childermass plays hardball: “Do you wish to make a success of this, or do you not?”

New Day. Childermass watches Vinculus sell spells on the street. Norrell meets Drawlight and Lascelles in his house and, surprise surprise, they want a favor, to be the guys who get credit for discovering him. Norrell is refusing, he doesn’t want to attend parties or do dumb stuff, he wants to go home.

Meanwhile, Vinculus and Childermass are talking brass tacks about whether Norrell will get Vinculus’s book. Childermass chooses an odd method of intimidation by like, threateningly whipping out some tarot cards to tell Vinculus’s fortune. I mean, if that’s worked before... Vinculus tries to one-up him by telling Norrell’s fortune. Is this like, a tarot duel? Vinculus has turned all the cards to kings, and says it means that “the Raven King is coming.” Childermass is pissed that his cards are all messed up now. I know!

Chez Norrell. On their way out, Drawlight and Lascelles gleefully mention that Sir Walter’s fiancée is dead. Well, she was pretty sick. Norrell starts to mutter about how hard it is to bring someone back from the dead. Drawlight transparently eggs him on. 

“I will need to send for more books,” says Norrell. He’s so into this plan! 

New scene. Jonathan Strange finds some peasants doing something poor, and rides up to interfere. They explain that they’ve found a magician sleeping under the hedge. What? Sure. It’s Vinculus. 

Vinculus wakes up, stares right at Jonathan, and gives him the two magicians, Fear and Arrogance, speech while stumbling around. Jonathan Strange looks very confused. He’s also holding a large stick for reasons that are obscure to me. Vinculus tells Strange that he is destined to become a great magician. Strange pokes him with his stick and tells him to choose someone else, because it sounds like being a magician sucks. Still, he buys two spells from Vinculus, probably because a nice patrician power move is to condescendingly buy someone’s wares. 

That night at dinner, Strange is telling Arabella about his big plan for the farm he’s inherited, and she laughs at him because the plan is bad.

“Very well, I’m going to study magic,” he says. Arabella and her brother are shocked. They all look at the spells and Strange decides to like, do one, right there at the table. It’s a spell to discover what your enemy is doing presently. It works, and Strange sees a stranger, apparently his enemy, in a mirror. 

“Good magicians conjure up fairy spirits and long-dead kings,” says Strange. “I appear to have summoned the spirit of a banker.” It’s Mr Norrell. Ha!

London, Norrell. He arrives at Sir Walter’s house with a huge book. Sir Walter gives him access to the room where Poor Dead Emma is like, dead. Norrell shuts them out, alone with the corpse, and opens his book, looking terrified. 

There’s silence, and something rattles, and a man with Ziggy Stardust hair and huge eyebrows appears. He’s also got a synthed voice and a weird jacket that I can’t pause on to figure out. He is clearly a fairy, and Norrell clearly summoned him, and he acknowledges that Norrell is destined to return magic to England. He does some back and forth about “what do I get if I resurrect this woman.” He wants to help Norrell and get credit, Norrell wants him to do this one quick necromancy and never be summoned again. The fairy does the old “maybe I will take my business to your competitor” and Norrell freaks out: “There is no other magician.”

“Of course there is another magician,” says the fairy. “He is your dearest friend in all the world.”

“I have no friends,” says Norrell. I laugh. He asks the fairy again if he can do the necromancy. 

The fairy says, if he gets half of Emma’s life, it’s on. Norrell looks sad, but then he asks if they should sign something. The fairy is like no, I’ll just take something of Emma’s. The shadow of his hand stretches over her. Yikes!

Cut to Drawlight and Lascelles hanging out downstairs. They hear a woman scream. Double yikes! Everybody runs upstairs and Emma is fighting her way out of her funeral shroud. Triple yikes! Her mother points out that half of her little finger on her left hand is missing. Quadruple yikes! She brushes it off, looking out of it, and asks Sir Walter to dance with her. 

Norrell zombie-walks out to his carriage. Quintuple yikes!

Until next time, Favorite Show!

#jonathan strange and mr norrell

[readbythestarlight]

Undeadwood (e2)

HERE WE GOOOOOO

Deck of powers, better parts of your soul? Oh boy I already love this mechanic.

Gun fiiiiiight

Nice Matt with the joker again

NICE what a perfect first hand!

Another good hand I really like this spell system very cool

Uh oh what’s happening

Lol Brian

[[MORE]]

“I stuff the matches in my bosom” have I mentioned Miriam is my wife?

M: “I don’t know what you just did with your hands.”

F: “Well... you know, I had a good morning.”

“Get out of the way!” “Why?” “So we can shoot!” “Well I didn’t know you had fucking guns!!”

Having to take a round to reload is brutal but a cool mechanic

“Do you even know how to fire that thing?”

RM: “You bet your ass! Get inside!”

Minus 4?? Ouch

Ohhh those rolls ouch

I like how these fights aren’t exactly hard (yet) but they’re still cool and fun to watch

Marisha: “if they kill the sexy sheriff I’m gonna be so sad”

A, after missing a shot: “curse my white collar upbringing!!”

RM: “GET THEE AWAY FROM ME SATAN!!”

Okay come on pull some good cards

Nice!!

And then he rolls an explode for damage nooiiice

Uh-oh...

Wait what does that mean?

“Let’s go JC!”

Is he gonna be okay what happens DOTN HURT THE REVEREND

WHAT DOES THIS MEEEEAN

okay so he’s just fatigued

Maaaatt babe can’t roll

Matt: “that’s how it works when you’re the DM and you get to play”

Aww giving Travis a chip for the song and making everyone laugh <3

Nice shot!

Mason honey I don’t think that’s God given power lol

I like the whole “DM’s discretion you give them poker chips” thing

RM: “I may take you up on that. Not that I don’t enjoy the... drafty comforts of the church... :|”

Aww walking Arabella home, what gentlemen

Miriam decided the crime lord can wait, Miriam is Queen of Deadwood

So Arabella is unhappily married, Sharpe is awfully paranoid and possibly a wanted man? Idk

RM: prays and conks out while everyone else is paranoid

Oh boy dreeeeam!

“First one’s free” and he gets to remove his fatigue point. Neat.

I like that Mason seems to actually have faith and not just to be some con man faking it? Like he prays in private and stuff. That’s cool.

FUCK I missed what Miriam said to Sharpe because my Twitch froze!! What’s all that matters??

Okay what’s up with Arabella’s husband? Is he a drunk? Is he grieving? Is he a recluse? He seemed awkward but sweet.

A: “he doesn’t hurt me, so” oh honey that bar is so low

Sure have breakfast with a bloody head in a bag xD

Also given that Fogg didn’t sleep I’m still saying vampire

Anyway I’m not one to quick ship but I’m tempted to ship Miriam with Mason, Sharpe, Arabella, or Fogg just depending on the moment

Crime lord fella doesn’t seem that shocked about the snake things

I love Sharpe’s “fuck you that mine was fucked up” attitude

lol goddamn Brian

Miriam are you a drug dealer??

I’d still marry her tho

Or maybe a witch and she deals potions

Guy says Mason is a drunk, Mason looks like he’s holding something in. WAS he a drunk? That’s interesting.

Brian keeps doing the best voices and cracking everyone up and I love it.

Dr: “you want my historical opinion or my medical opinion?”

F: “Whatever fucking opinion you got we’ll take.” I love his sass.

Arabella why do you want books on alchemy and healing

New means of healing...

She’s trying to necromance her sister isn’t she?

Oh we split up and half went to the graveyard that seems unwise

Oh dear a dark room I don’t like Miriam going alone

What is going onnnnnn

Is she a witch what is she she’s clearly not just a drug dealer is she she cares too much for that

Oh I forget she’s supposedly married

Ohhhhh is she a dealer for her husband? Like it’s a whole thing

Godddd I love the mystery of all this

I’m so here for all the woman to woman solidarity in this Miriam is so supportive of every woman she meets and I love her

Why are Miriam and Arabella so unhappily married? Leave your husbands and marry someone better I’m begging

Oh nooooo

Awww she threw her drugs good job Joni!

GUYS IM SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS

Fogg is so funny you guys

Can’t wait to find out his full tragic backstory

Seriously tho I’m emotional about all this woman/woman support and solidarity

And I wanna hug Miriam

Oh jeeze, poor Arabella :(

Somethings up tho for sure it’s all too suspicious

Okay so sister was the responsible one, Arabella the wild one, so now is she trying to pay her sister back for all those past times she looked after her?

Oh jeeze the marriage is just for financial reasons??? Gross. Poor Arabella.

I’m getting emotional about

“to maybe bring her back” oh my god she just confessed it out loud

Oh honey

“Brothers seeking out other brothers” oh honey no you don’t want your sister back like that

Poor Reverend Mason agreed with me like “oh honey no”

I love how Mason is convinced it’s God and Sharpe’s just like “don’t be stupid that ain’t god//God don’t play cards”

That’s a cool quote actually put that on a t-shirt “god don’t play cards”

Oh lovely fog in the graveyard on a sunny day that’s not suspicious

Fogg fascinated by the fog

Okay suspicious supernatural fog in the graveyard this is fine

F: “There you are. It’s been a long time.” what the FUCK does that mean, Fogg?

A gravestone with no fog... a graveplank of deadwood

Oh it’s her sister’s

“Staked into the ground” I wonder if that was deliberate phrasing... staked, Huh? Also being suddenly ill and then just as suddenly dying? Def sounds like vampires to me.

OH NO HE FELL INTO WILD BILL HICKOK’S GRAVE SAVE HIM

Arabella honey no!

Oh boy empty coffin except for a hat

Scratch marks and ash oh boy the dead are rising

RM: “THERE ARE SCRATCH MARKS! INSIDE! THE COFFIN!”

I mean that’s a good question tho why not any fog around her grave

Arabella honey you don’t want your sister back undead honey

Oh damn the fog helped save him iS THAT WHY HIS LAST NAME IS FOGG??

CALLED IT

“See her the way she is, not the way you intend her to be” Miriam coming in with the wisdom

It moves around the Reverend WHY

Miriam asking the question we all want to have answered

The initials D.C....

Doc Cochran‘s hat

Oh shit I think Fogg is right

“Surely when one of your own is laid to rest we should honor that rest, *but the fog*!!!”

Woooooo going to the bar!

Oh lord they gotta dig up the sister’s grave

BT: “Now, is there anything else you’d like to know?”

K/F: “Yeah, there’s a whole shitload I’d like to know!”

Ooo keeping the info to himself for now. Interesting. I agree though idk how Arabella would handle that.

Oh lord here we go gonna dig up the grave

I knew it was gonna be empty but I’m still like FFFUUUUUCK

God I love this series and these characters so much you guys I can’t believe we only get two more eps. It’s so so so so good.

#undeadwood #undeadwood spoilers #cr spoilers #emi watches critical role #critical role #fuck i love this series y’all

[septembersung]

Instead of writing my new story, I’m going to tell everyone about it, because that’s how I do, apparently. Maybe it will serve as a helpful outline or something.

The major plot events were developed in conjunction with a friend during a writing exercise, but most if not all of the backstory and the story is mine. She also gave me permission to write it as I wish, because she’s not going to.

“Crabby Abby and the Cactus Quest” is a story about the nature of magic and community and atonement. 

In Eunaria, human and magical beings share the same land. They do not always coexist in time and space, but when they do, the cohabitation is a peaceful one - usually. A careful set of unspoken rules guides human and faery interactions in a wary truce. Some things are always done. Some things are unthinkable.

One evening at sunset, a magic circus comes to the hidden-away, insular seaside town of Arborvale, scattering faery dust and looking to perform. Unfortunately, Arborvale has a great fear and distrust of magic and the faery, and do not allow the circus to perform. Gravely insulted, the circus leaves - and as they do, they work their magic through the dust, and turn all the children of Arborvale into crabs. 

There’s an uproar and outright panic. We were supposed to be protected! people shout, and, How can we get our children back?, or This is why we don’t want the faery around! A few cooler heads point out that, well, you did bring it on yourselves by insulting them... 

Eventually, the town remembers Crabby Abby. She’s a “witch” who lives all alone on an island off the coast. Of course, she’s not really a witch. No human being can work magic. She seems human, but she has strange abilities... She’s been there as long as anyone living can remember. But who is brave enough to trespass on her island and seek her help?

Lots are drawn, and five reluctant champions are chosen: 

Kent, the town farrier, pushing middle age. Unmarried but extremely fond of his nieces and nephews, Kent is one of the cooler heads - as befits a man who works with iron and sometimes treads close to faery borders. He wears a family heirloom - a pendant that he thinks might once have been an amulet. He’s a slow thinker, but he’s always thinking, and in some respects quite shrewd. 

Arabella, universally known as “Grandma,” one of the oldest living citizens of Arborvale. Still spry and sharp, and sharp-tongued, she’s incisively critical but big-hearted. She has no love for the faery but also no patience for those who cross boundaries and borders they shouldn’t.

Louisa, the local lord’s daughter, just come into her majority. She’s very fond of a certain “toy,” a clever wooden cube made up of smaller, rotating cubes with mysterious carvings that sometimes seem to change. She got it from a strange peddler two summers ago and keeps it hidden because she suspects its faery-made. Her secret interest in the faery is half fearful, half defiant. 

Becker, mid-thirties, the cobbler, a new father deeply passionate about his wife and family. Their first children are twins, which are considered good luck - he can’t quite believe this crab thing happened after such an auspicious sign. He’s superstitious, straightforward, earnest, meticulous in his work, and concerned with fairness and justice.

Jeremy, a young man well known in the village as a layabout. Jeremy’s father is the baker, a dispassionate, hard worker who’s all but given up on his wayward son. Jeremy likes to sail, fish, and walk in the woods, keeping his solitude. Half the village thinks he’s simple, or on bad days, “faery touched”; the other half doesn’t think of him at all.

Resigned to their fate, Kent, Arabella, Louisa, Becker, and Jeremy make ready that night and leave at dawn for Crabby Abby’s island.

They find Crabby Abby in a sprawling treehouse. She offers them a strange meal; they eat with her, and tell their story, and ask for her assistance in restoring the children. She says she will restore the children - but only if they go on a quest across the sea and bring her back a spine from a rare cactus. They must leave immediately, not returning to Arborvale. Feeling like they have no choice, the five reluctant champions agree. 

Crabby Abby has them set sail by night. After an extremely long journey - though it never grows light - they finally land on another shore. Only then does dawn break. 

They’re on the shore of a vast desert. Although there are lots of cacti around, nothing matches the one they’re after. As time wears on - though the sun never sets - they begin to worry about how much time has passed and their dwindling supplies. They’re drawing nearer to the mountainous shapes in the distance. But then they meet a snake who beguiles them - hypnotized and led off track, they become hopelessly lost in empty dunes. But then Kent’s mysterious pendant - or amulet - “wakes up,” and drives the snake away. They’re still hopelessly lost, though. 

At the moment of greatest despair, a giant elephant arrives to guide them. She offers to lead them to the mountainous jungle they glimpsed in the distance before, to the Ravens, who might be willing to help. 

The sun has still not set, but it’s nearly dark as night in the jungle. The Raven Pagoda is a vast, dense forest in a grand ruined building. The Ravens are huge, very old - some say immortal - and, depending on who you ask, very wise or very manipulative. Perhaps they see the future. Perhaps they’re only working to realize their own mysterious agenda. Whatever the truth of the Ravens, they hear the five lost ravelers’ tale and offer them a choice: return home now, safe, but the quest unfulfilled; or a dangerous road, that might end in death or worse, but with a chance to save the children. They’re divided, but ultimately choose the dangerous path. 

From the heart of the Raven Pagoda they take an underground stair, deeper and deeper into the earth. At last they emerge in the Field of Seeing, where the sun shines bright, but it’s deeply cold. Stone walls rise up around the field without end. The Field is covered in millions and millions of brightly-colored flowers - each with a single, unblinking eye at the center. They have been granted permission to pluck the flowers and use the far-seeing eyes to look for the rare cactus spine Crabby Abby requested. But there is no guide for which flower to look through, no way to tell if they’re seeing into the present or the past or the future, into things real or imagined. They might easily become terminally distracted or be driven mad.

And yet, among other useful and not-so-useful things, including some puzzling events from what they recognize as the history of Arborvale but do not understand, they find what they seek. And where is that rare cactus spine? Right there in Crabby Abby’s treehouse, meticulously bottled and labeled. And Crabby Abby herself, cackling and cackling. 

The five champions are seething, furious. But what should they do now? 

The only way out of the Seeing Field is through an enormous door in one of the stone walls. They knock, and a giant answers, who tells them that he is the guardian of the field, and they may not pass. 

But they discover that the giant is a prisoner, too - doomed to wait here until he finds what he has lost. He’s searched and searched for lifetimes, and never found it. They strike a bargain: if they can help the giant find what he seeks, he’ll let them go. He laughs and agrees, because he knows it’s hopeless. And yet! Luck is with them. The giant is so grateful that not only does he let them through the door, but he gives them a drink from his magic Draught - a sip for each of them. And to each it gives a different gift. Jeremy is given the gift of language, and on the other side of the giant’s door, he negotiates a ride with magical creature to get them through the jungle and back to the desert, which is as far as it is willing to go.

At the desert’s edge, they again meet the elephant guide. But this time, she has no plans to help them - indeed, she almost leads them to disaster. They’re rescued at the last minute by none other than the snake. Why, they ask, the switch? What’s going on? The snake is surprised they haven’t figured it out yet. You’re not the heroes now, it tells them. You’ve entered a different strain of the story. 

At the shore, they sail back through the endless night to Crabby Abby’s island, though the journey seems only to take one night this time. On the journey, with old Arabella’s help, they make sense of the things they saw from Arborvale’s past in the Seeing Field. [The reader will have encountered much of this in sections alternating with the present-day tale.]

One hundred and fifty years ago, a being from the faery realm passed through Arborvale. Her name was Anabel, and she was curious about the world of men. Unfortunately, the town leaders decided to trap Anabel there, harnessing her power to “protect” the town. It was a risk, and a gross violation of the unspoken truce between their kinds, but they were so afraid of the outside, magical world - it was their chance, they thought, to protect themselves forever. The treachery took.

Miserable, but bound by the iron laws that govern faery and human kind, Anabel had one solace - a friend, a human man named Lord Derrick, a distant great-uncle of Louisa’s. In the way of things, they fell in love. To the horror of the villagers, they married - and had a child. 

Lord Derrick grew old and died while his half-faery child was still very young; they age so slowly. The faery cannot truly die, but passing so much into human life, and living under magical constraints, eventually Anabel faded, long before her time, leaving her daughter Abigail alone. The binding that held her mother passed, in some measure, to her. 

Eventually, she tried to leave. (Arabella heard those stories, growing up.) How the strange, wild young woman desired to seek her own life in the greater world, and the town leaders - the mayor, the lord, the elders - refused. But her human nature had a strong will, and she made it into the sea - as far as her island, where she lives still.

The five champions realize that they have, as Arborvale’s representatives, a unique chance to right things; indeed, that is their responsibility. When they arrive at Crabby Abby’s home, they share a meal with her - wholesome, healthy food, from their own provisions. They do not accuse her or speak in anger about their wild goose chase. They bring her the rare cactus spine from her own shelves, and the five of them together, release the unlawful binding. 

Crabby Abby says that she sent the circus to Arborvale deliberately, knowing what would happen. And then admits that she has no power to bring the children back. 

The five champions return home, heartbroken, unsure how to break the doubly bad news to the village - that they brought this on themselves, that Abigail can’t help, that whatever protection they had from the magical realm is gone - but then, in the middle of the dry season, it begins to rain. The rain washes away the faery dust the circus left, and the children turn back into themselves. 

An envoy of reconciliation is sent out to Abigail, but she is gone, her house empty. And all over Arborvale, whether in small things like Kent’s amulet and Louisa’s riddle cube, or larger things in life and business, the magic begins to return to Arborvale. 

Louisa and Jeremy, the obvious romantic pairing, in fact cannot stand each other, though by the end of their journey have become reluctant friends. Louisa determines to take up teaching at the schoolhouse. Jeremy finds there is a place for his work in town after all; he’s a musician, which is greatly aided by his new gift for communication. Arabella begins to take on a more active role in the younger life of the town, telling stories and passing things down; she manages to get the other elders involved, too. Kent gets back in touch with the ancient farrier and blacksmith traditions with interacting with the faery, to the betterment of his work. And Becker raises his children, and when strange customers begin frequenting his cobbler shop, he knows just how to act, and what they need.

One year later, a circus comes to town...

#my writing #clearly there are things not explicated here that are part of the story #either they'll get written out or just have to be part of the actual narrative #and ofc any of this is subject to revising