A Shooting Star

[estrelllas]

BARBARA LILLI ROBERTS

Try not to hold me down Feel alive, when I'm in this town Look at those beautiful stars I wanna drive a faster car Nothing can break me No no, nothing can break me

Nicknames: Barbie (Everyone, never goes by Barbara), Babs (Mocha) Magic status: Mundus Nationality: British Ethnicity: Spanish/Cuban Accent: English Height: 5’6 Build: Muscles, but lean Complexion: Tanned Eye color: Green Hair color/length/style: Dark, curly shoulder length hair, has varied from blonde and brunette Tattoos/piercings/daily jewelry: Basic ear lobes, she has a tattoo for her parents under her ribcage near her heart. What would you find if you Googled them?: Her Etsy shop and basic social media, the latter isn’t updated as much. What natives would know about them: She grew up in Swynlake, was Prom Queen, very popular, had a bimbo vibe, very fashion forward but did well in school. Her Parents died when she was 16 and when she was 18 she left for design school in LA and kind of never looked back. She returned a couple years ago. Other: She’s one of the newest handlers of the Swynlake RAS Branch. Her specialty is going undercover (Multiple languages and a lot of random specialty information) and working with tech to outfit gear with the newest gear or work the gear so they are easily manageable/hidden. She has a lot of contacts on that front and gets new gadgets easily. 

[estrelllas]

The Lady in Red || Jess & Barbie

notbad-justsungthatway​

All right, maybe Jessica had wanted to give Barbie a bit of a distraction after her breakup as well. It didn’t change that most of the new outfits she’d bought in the last few years had been for work, which meant she’d gotten out of the habit of shopping for her personal life.

“I had to say it, just in case.” Although she was mostly amused. Barbie had a slightly martial look in her eye as she looked around the store.

“Now, just because I’m looking to expand my colors doesn’t mean you need to go looking for neon or anything like that. Just something a little brighter than neutrals.”

Barbie looked at Jess deadpanned, something just slightly brighter than neutrals. Look she understood it was good for people to dress comfortably. If they were comfortable they were so much more radiant then if they were uncomfortable.

But Barbie wished that Jess would be confident in bright colours. She deserved that.

“Ok no Neon but like pink? Or teals? pastels in general?” Barbie turned that deadpanned expression into a puppy pout.

[notbad-justsungthatway]

The Lady in Red || Jess & Barbie

@estrelllas

Jessica let out a long slow breath as she looked around the store Barbie had brought her to. It had seemed like such a good idea to turn to her friend when she was thinking about expanding her wardrobe, especially considering the woman had made her talent for fashion into the kind of job that let her travel before she’d come back home to settle. Who better to help her move beyond the dark blues, browns, and other neutrals that had filled her wardrobe?

But now that she was here, she was already starting to have questions and second thoughts. “Are you sure you’re not too busy for this? You could just point me towards a few blouses.” 

[estrelllas]

If someone needed help shopping you best be sure as hell Barbie was right there, her ears burned as if they were beckoning her to rush in to solve the shopping crisis.

And considering her recent break up. Well it was retail therapy for her too.

Jess’ question had Barbie rolling her eyes. “Do you even think I could ever be too busy for shopping. Nope you asked for help and we’re walking out of here with at least one new outfit.”

[labellerose-acheron]

Tales from the Past *** [Barbelle]

@estrelllas

"Amity is doing well," Belle was saying.

They were sitting at Belle's kitchen table, papers spread out everywhere. The babies were upstairs taking their mid-afternoon nap. Opal was out with Hades, who had gone to the bookshoppe today. The only time she could really meet with Barbie was Saturdays, but they made it work. The house was quiet, cups of tea cooling for both of them, Vincent curled up in the window, flicking her tail, and Shuck asleep under the table at Belle's feet.

"I can tell she is still resentful and on guard, but I don't blame her for that. She's a hard worker, though. Has never missed a shift or anything." Belle scribbled a note on her notepad.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

[outfit]

[estrelllas]

Barbie nodded, the benefit of Amity working at Chapter Three was Belle keeping an eye on her. But after her last conversation with Amity, Barbie wanted to keep a closer eye on that before making any decisions for herself if Amity was in the right situation for her.

There weren’t too many options but maybe a change was needed if Amity was still so distrustful of them.

It was a complicated situation but as long as Amity was doing her best well that was one win for now.

“Actually I was hoping to talk to you about Bianca. I’m not sure if you had a chance to meet her about a year or so ago?” Barbie twisted and twirled her pen around her fingertips the topic was still a hard one and any distraction was a good one.

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

Lol. 

Her eyebrows raised as Barbie talked. She supposed she should be fooled by all of it - the way the RAS liked to frame everything in her benefit. Sure, they weren’t prison. They were the thing she picked so she wouldn’t have to go to prison, or face a real mundane trial, or anything like that. But Barbie was naive to think that she was the same as some of the other wards. Amity certainly knew that she was not, or she would have gotten way more freedom from the start. 

They wouldn’t be poking at her for info now. 

She smirked a little, an empty expression. “Okay.” It was clear she didn’t believe Barbie. “If you say so.” 

A beat.

“Can I go now?” 

Barbie sighed but she nodded, this battle would be won with patience. And Barbie could only hope it was one that didn’t turn into a battle. She just needed Amity to realize Barbie really just wanted the best for her.

“Yes you can go. As always my door is always open.”

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

A year. Blah. 

Amity could look at this whole thing pragmatically and think to herself, yeah, duh. She’d nearly destroyed an entire town, so of course the RAS were going to be watching her every move for at least a year– if not longer. But she still hated the feeling. It set her teeth on edge and made her want to run away from town. She’d spent her entire life under some form of surveillance. Amity just wanted to be free from it. 

“Right,” she said and nodded slow. “Is there no way to reduce that? Like. With good behavior?” 

Barbie tilted her head at Amity slightly. “Amity this isn’t a prison sentence. There’s no need to reduce based on good behaviour. But everyone is different if you are settling in and there’s no longer a benefit to you then we can always discuss that. I want you to know this is ever changing and we want this to benefit you.”

Right now Barbie was sure Amity would take the full year before Barbie would want to start checking in less but who knew how much she would grow in that time. “I know this must be difficult but I promise this is always an open door and an open conversation.”

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

Once again, Amity didn’t entirely believe Barbie…

But she didn’t have better choices than where she was. She was glad to be with the Ambrosiuses. At least Mim understood her and liked her for the way she was. She didn’t have to be kinder, or sweeter, or less obsessive. She didn’t know how long she’d get to stay, but at least for now, she was relieved she didn’t have to worry about where she’d sleep.

“Everything’s fine,” said Amity. “I like working at Chapter Three. I like the Ambrosiouses.” She hesitated. She should just leave it there.

But she was curious.

“How long am I gonna be required to have these check-ins?” 

Barbie nodded, those were good things. Amity had so much growing to do, and so much of that would be with people she trusted and cared for. Barbie wanted to help more. She craved it but she knew she could only try her best.

“They will continue for some time, I’d like to keep them up for at least a year after someone becomes a new ward. At that point we can make them less frequent until you are fully settled and at that point these would be at your discretion if you would like to check in with us or ask for assistance.”

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

Amity just didn’t believe her.

Why should she? The RAS were basically her prison guards. She knew she owed them– but that was a pretty shitty place to start a relationship, wasn’t it? Being in debt. It didn’t suit Amity, who had been taught her whole life not to depend on anyone. 

“It doesn’t,” she lied, swiftly. “I mean, it’s not like they were targeting me or my family specifically. I don’t know how they got the tech, but my parents basically disowned me anyway. I’m not a Blight anymore. So I don’t care.” 

Another lie, but she just steeled her gaze in a challenge for Barbie to call her out on it. 

Barbie sighed, did she think that was the end of it? No, she thought there was so much more to it. So much more to Amity then maybe she would ever be able to reach.

“Alright then. Then how is work? Your housing? Are you happy with those current arrangements? You’re never stuck with them, so if there is anything you want to change I want you to know that you can.”

[estrelllas]

A Quick Bite | Barbie & Mitte

mighty-mitte​

Aha. Family ties, that made sense. Swynlake was one of those generational places, what with Interpride and the shadow it cast over the whole damn town, and all these quaint little businesses. Honestly something about it unsettled Mitte just a touch. Like, you were really going to love one place so much you were going to convince your kids and your grandkids and so on to keep living there? Ok. “That’s cute, I bet this is a nice place to grow up.”

Mitte chuckled, “oh yeah, we get busloads of kids coming on day trips, those are my least favourite shifts because they wanna put their grubby hands on everything- it’s worse with sculptures too. I’m getting pretty good at my ‘keep your hands to yourself’ glare, though.”

Barbie let out a laugh and nodded at the thought of it. Yeahhhh she should see how kids probably weren’t the best thing for a art gallery. Though busloads of kids sounded like a bad fieldtrip too. Just a touch too boring.

“Oh yeah? Does it work on the grownups too? I always imagine it’s a people thing in general to just wanna touch things that you know you can’t touch.”

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​

Barbie’s tone was starting to really annoy her. She should just come out and say what she really wanted, not pretend like she was ‘checking in’ about Amity, that she cared at all about her. She didn’t. She wanted to pump Amity for information, and she wanted to figure out if Amity was involved. 

Amity’s eyes went steely. “Look, just go ahead and say it. You think I’m the source, right?” 

Barbie sighed as Amity got defensive. She probably should have planned for that. Amity seemed so calm cool and collected sometimes it wasn’t easy to see just how much she probably had struggled in the past.

“No Amity I do not think you are the source. I do not think you are at fault.” Barbie offered with a raised eyebrow. “I think you are a subject matter expert and I think your knowledge invaluable. But while I hope you’re willing to share that knowledge. I am also concerned that something you are close to was manipulated in town, and I do what to check in if that is something that worries you.”

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

About…? 

About the aboma-drone things? Not at all. About the fact someone fucked with her family’s tech? A Titan-tonne, and then some. About the chance her parents were involved in any capacity? Yeah– it had kept her up the better part of the last few nights.

But she wasn’t sure what Barbie meant and she didn’t feel like sharing, to be honest. 

She’d play dumb.

“Uh– “ Amity shrugged. “I mean, they melted so case closed, right?” 

“An abomination, that was manipulated to cause mayhem and destruction. Something that reflects sorcery? It could happen again without the source figured out. They had access to it after all.” Barbie offered hoping that Amity would offer more than simple answers but she wouldn’t would she?

Amity didn’t trust them.

But that would take more than a couple months to show that they really want to help.

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

Amity shook her head, frown firmly planted on her face. 

That was the simple answer. The real answer was much more complicated. “It really all depends on the golem itself and like, what it’s made out of, reagent-wise. Well-made golem commanded by an animation sorcerer wouldn’t do that. But this stuff was super destablized,” she said. “Like, really clearly fucked with, at least– at least it didn’t act like my golem. I had to stablize it with my own reagents.”

AKA blood, lol, but Barbie didn’t have to know that part. 

Barbie reached over the counter to grab a notepad and make a couple notes as Amity spoke.

This is what made this a worry, while it was easily defeated, it was a concern that this had happened. If it wasn’t from a sorcerer, it was mimicked, it was modified, it was something that potentially could happen again.

Barbie almost wished there was a chip or something attached that they could study. But it wasn’t there, the clay wasn’t something they could study in the same way.

“How concerned are you about them?”

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

She waited, braced for it– the accusation…

But it didn’t come.

Amity blinked slow, instantly distrusting this. Didn’t it make sense to at least ask Amity if she had anything to do with this? To give her a chance to deny? It was the most glaring, obvious thing to say in a conversation like this, but Barbie was clearly pretending like it wasn’t. If that was a strategy itself, Amity wouldn’t fall for it… 

“I mean– golem can regenerate itself and change shape and stuff, but usually you need a sorcerer there to command it. It was like, doing it on its own as if someone… y’know, wound it up like a toy and let it go. It wasn’t smart or anything. It just acted like a robot on the fritz.” 

Barbie was careful to watch Amity’s expressions while she poured their tea and Barbie passed it over with a small sugar container and a spoon. Personally Barbie didn’t take any so she moved to sit keeping the stools a little apart to give Amity space.

“What would happen if a sorcerer just left if? They did not seem to have a clear goal would that be a possibility to command and walk away?” Would it melt? “Is melting in the water something common?”

[estrelllas]

Lost in the Woods || Barbill

agentgrumpy-gils​:

Gil had noticed Rogers more or less take a backseat when it came to RAS duties. He’d given Rogers some space; he had been close to Gabor, after all, and her death had clearly hit him the hardest out of all of them. 

But they had more charges now. More duties. He probably needed to give Rogers a talk about this — and well, this leaf could be an entry point into that. 

“A good idea,” said Gil. “He has a skillset that we’ve been underutilizing. This could be a chance for him to get his feet wet again. I know he’ll be thrilled to take a break from the paperwork. And I’m sure Shiftwell could use a break from having to redo his forms.”

That was a joke. Mostly. Holley did complain about Jake’s paperwork the most. 

He collected a few more leaves, putting them in the evidence bag, and then looked around again. 

“We should figure out how far this growth extends.”

It wasn't a bad idea. To see where it took them. If this had anything to do with the Demon or the Magic drain they needed to know what had happened.

And they could handle it.

Even if there was a spike of fear, they had gone their sperate ways in this forest and Bianca had been killed.

But the further they got in, the harder it was to follow the path of the vines.

"I have a feeling the forest doesn't want us to go any further."

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

Duh, lady.

This was the point where Amity knew that Barbie knew. Amity just didn’t know what Barbie knowing meant.

She fidgeted, wishing very badly for either Emira and Edric to be here with her right now. Wow, weird feeling! But then again– Blights versus the world right? She might not be besties with her sibs, but she knew they were all on the same side. 

“Yeah,” she answered honestly then. Amity leaned back in the chair and shrugged. “It was abomination magic. Or– not exactly, but like, mostly? The goo was golem, I mean.” 

Barbie sighed as she wanted Amity fidget. "Can you tell me about it? What made it different than what you are used to. It might help us start searching to find out what happened."

And while Barbie didn't think Amity had anything to do with it. She'd like to hear it from her too, indirectly or directly. "You're after all an expert in it, and you can imagine I'm not."

[estrelllas]

A Quick Bite | Barbie & Mitte

mighty-mitte​:

Right right, being able to be anywhere was a benifit Mitte understood. The best thing about her lifestyle was that she could drop it all in seconds and be someone brand new in like, less than a day, if she was bored enough. Once, Mitte had gone through three different identities in one week, because none of them were scratching the itch right.

She still wasn’t sure why Barbie would choose Swynlake of all places, but y’know, Mitte had been here for well over two years now so maybe there was just something in the water, as they said. “Right. Being able to pick up and be wherever must be nice. Why’d you move to Swynlake? Friends here, or something?” Was she actually rich, and thought living in a small town was like, cuter and safer or something? Mitte really couldn’t get a read, “I started off there as an intern a few years ago, I’m mostly on the marketing and tour guide side of stuff.” Because she didn’t know a lot about art, either, but she knew how to flog it, “but I get to meet most of the artists we feature and talk to them about their work, y’know, so I can tell other people about it.”

"My Aunt lives here, I grew up here and right now my girlfriend lives here." So it was a lot of well where else would she be. Her job couldn't even keep her here. If she wanted to move it wouldn't be too hard to put in the request. Even as a handler.

"That sounds like so much fun, seeing the world how other people do, how they paint it. And then all the people that it effects. Do you ever have to fight off people wanting to touch it and things like that?"

[estrelllas]

You Know What That Is… {Barbie & Amity}

blight-magic​:

Amity wasn’t sure how much she should say here. 

It was obvious to her that those abominations were– abominations. Blight abominations, made from Alador’s specific recipe. But had the RAS put that together? Would they call her a liar if she didn’t give them anything? Would they blame her for it? 

Had they uh, seen her lead those things into the lake with Edric? It had been pretty obvious. 

“Um– yeah, I was there too. With my uh, my partner, they invited me to this party,” said Amity. “I’m okay though.” 

She stopped here. She’d let Barbie keep asking questions. 

Barbie nodded, sometimes she didn’t like knowing all that she knew but when a relationship was as public as theirs was on twitter well Barbie couldn’t feel bad about knowing that.

“Have you seen anything like that before?” Barbie questioned, she didn’t want to play games with Amity, she just hoped Amity would be open with her right from the beginning.