t h e   s o r c e r e s s

ind. &sel. Azkadellia from syfy's Tin Man formerly onedrawntodarkness

[checkmcte-blog]

♛ | @stillnessbetween

“okay: donald trump. i’m not saying he’s perfect, but i AM voting for him, sweetie. he’s very far from perfect. some of his ideas are ridiculous. he has skin issues && his hair concerns me. but have you considered that out of all the presidential candidates, HE’S the one most likely to get us into war ?? && with a little pushing, perhaps we can tip the scale into a full-blown world war. && when that happens, it’ll only be a matter of time before nukes are tossed into the mix. a POOF !! here, a little explosion there— humanity will be dragged into a nuclear apocalypse !! && with the pawns dying around me, i’ll be able to debrain them once && for all before dying.”

she doesn’t even know the stranger standing behind her in the starbucks, but she’s had to deal with far too many democrats today. she needs to vent.

“my point is, i’m voting for donald trump because he’ll make america great again indeed !! he’ll wipe it out along with the rest of the world. THAT’S what greatness is.”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

azkadellia’s not sure WHAT she did to deserve this. whatever it was, it must have been pretty awful. she’d be on her knees repenting right now if she knew which deity she’d managed to offend this much, but as she isn’t privy to that information, she’s left with no choice but to LISTEN to this stranger’s rambling with a fixed stare.

finally there’s a brief pause when the DERANGED woman stops to draw breath, && azkadellia seizes her chance. “look. the POINT of any good authoritarian regime should be to rule, not destroy. rulership over a radioactive empty WASTELAND doesn’t count. you can’t just—just elect a complete BUFFOON to the presidency on the off chance that he’ll start a nuclear war. even tyrants ought to have a modicum of class. to say nothing of the ability to string together a coherent piece of rhetoric.”

( why is she even having this discussion ?? )

“who ARE you, even ??”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

withoutsiin

she has to THINK, unconsciously gripping the pretty lady’s ( assie’s !! ) hand a bit more tightly, not too eager to let go. there’s the CELL numbers && then there’s the HOME number. but which should they call ?? probably home, since mummy is home !! so she tells the lady her home phone number carefully, but pauses.

that IS her phone, right ??

“ i think that’s what it is, ” lucy mumbles, thoughts jumbled up— it’s too many numbers !! but yes, she’s fairly sure that’s what it is.

“ you think so. wonderful. ”   it’s a struggle to keep the sarcasm in her town down to a level low enough that the girl won’t pick up on it. she dials the number anyway, bracing herself for a voicemail or a wrong number. either one will probably lead to her TRAIPSING OFF with the kid to find the damn park and, or possibly or, her parents.

&& missing her bus && being late, more importantly. she’s almost tempted to just LEAVE, && probably she would if the girl weren’t so small and, well, more than a little reminiscent of DG.

there’s no answer on the other end of the line. of course there isn’t. azkadellia leaves a brief voicemail, explaining the situation && leaving her own number, before hanging up && forcing a smile.   “ try again ?? ”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

withoutsiin

asskuhdella !! that’s a very long name ( && lucy thinks long names are pretty— like WILHELMINA && ASSKUHDELLA, but short names—- L-U-C-Y are easier !! ). she’s in awe as she looks up at the pretty lady.

“ yes, ” she announces proudly, as her parents had made her memorize both phone numbers from an early age, in case she ever got lost. now would come the time to show off how much she knew !! yes, good, nice !! “ yes. i learned it all. in case of an emergency !! ”

she squeezes assie’s hand && steps closer. “ this is an emergency, ” she whispers in explanation.

she hesitates for a moment, waiting for the girl to actually offer the requested information before realizing it won’t be delivered without further prompting.    ( she’s always wondered what it is about children’s brains that makes them all so obliviously RECALCITRANT. )

a sigh.   “ an emergency, yes. ”   that’s debatable—-it’s not as if anybody is DEAD or DYING.   “ so why don’t you tell me their number so i can call them and get you back to them sooner rather than later, hm ? ”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

withoutsiin

she bites her tongue, the tiny thing sticking slightly out between her lips as she looks down, somewhat guiltily. YES, she should be with mummy && daddy, but they’d trusted her to not get lost && stay by the park. but she’d seen a gorgeous brown puppy run across the street && she’d chased after it without a thought !!

“ yes. yes, i should be, ” lucy admits, looking up at the lady. without asking, she grabs the lady’s hand, not breaking eye contact. the pretty lady is the Adult around here. “ but i was chasing a cute puppy !! it was small && brown && had floppy ears— did YOU see it ?? ”

azkadellia’s startled when the little girl takes her hand   ( and aren’t children taught NOT to do that sort of thing nowadays ??   stranger-danger and everything ?? )   but she manages not to flinch.

( the last time she held anyone’s hand, her SISTER was still alive. )

“ i—- ”   no, she hasn’t seen any dogs, or any parks, and her bus is supposed to be here in two minutes. not a lot of TIME to go hunting for some girl’s parents.

“ ...i’m azkadellia gale, ”   she says at last, rather weakly.   “ do you—ah—know your parents’ number ?? ”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

                            save the poetry for someone who cares.

[stillnessbetween-blog]

withoutsiin

✖️: @stillnessbetween

she’s terribly lost && frightened, but the excitement of the place mostly puts her thoughts at ease !! she doesn’t know how she quite ended up— well, wherever she is, but she wants to know !!

“ excuse me, miss, ” lucy politely says, voice a bit softer than usual, shaky from the uncertainty, “ i think i got lost. do you know where the park is ?? i don’t mean to bother you. ”

“ wherever it is, it isn’t here. ”   there’s   p r o b a b l y   a park in the neighborhood. somewhere. azkadellia’s pretty sure she’s glimpsed a lawn once or twice, at least.

she’s tempted to leave it at that and walk away, but the girl’s so tiny—-even azkadellia’s not quite that callous.  “ shouldn’t you be with your parents ?? ”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

lightofoz

She thought about it, searching her memory for some recollection. The name sounded vaguely familiar, perhaps she heard the name when the trial was announced, but she couldn’t place a face to it.

“What about him?”

“he’s to be executed. for treason and war crimes.” that horner had been nothing but loyal to azkadellia’s regime seemed to matter very little. the former rebels seemed determine to treat the entire fifteen annuals as nothing but a tiny blip on the otherwise unbroken span of her mother’s reign.

it rankled, although not so much as the immenent death of her soldiers.

“mother thinks i ought to attend. to reassure people, you know, that the witch is truly gone.”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

lightofoz

She tilts her head curiously at the tentative question. It isn’t like her sister to be shy, but then, they’re still relearning how they fit together after all these years, so maybe it’s only natural that there’s still some lingering awkwardness.

She nods in answer, then pauses. “Everything okay?”

azkadellia takes a moment to weigh her thoughts before she answers, half wishing that DG would’ve brushed her off for once. 

“i... don’t know how closely you’ve been following the trials of the longcoats who were captured during the eclipse,” she says at length. “but they reached a verdict for one of them this morning. lieutenant horner?”

[sicaacer]

the killers sentence starters pt. 1 {from day & age, battle born, + assorted singles }

“Draw me a life line, ‘cause honey I got nothing to lose.” “You’ve got inside this naive head of mine.” “Put me down and call it fate.” “I’m trying to tell myself that I’m better off alone.” “Maybe this confusion’s got me losing my grip.” “I guess you just expect the worst.” “Who do you think you’re fooling?” “And sometimes I have these nightmares, in the middle of the day.” “Self-denial is such a wonderful and powerful thing.” “Just how thick is your skin?” “Just how sharp are your teeth?” “So how’d you lose the light?” “We’re in the belly of the beast.” “No sense in holdin’ grudges.” “They had to scrape me off the floor.” “I believe that we never have to be alone.” “Was I deceived, or in denial?” “The truth’s gonna come and cut me open.” “You can’t escape the rising of the tide.” “You should have seen your face.” “All I wanted was a little touch.” “Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time…” “There’s something to be said for pushing through.” “Come on, show me where it hurts.” “It’s like we’re going under.” “Maybe we just drifted apart.” “It’s the one thing you can choose.” “You always had it, but you never knew.” “I can get by in the meantime by myself.” “Stay, don’t leave me.” “I can’t take blame for two.” “So reel me in and cut my throat.” “Cut me some slack, ‘cause I don’t wanna go back.” “I can’t stay much longer.” “You gotta be stronger than the story.” “I don’t have a simple answer.” “I saw the devil wrapping up his hands—he’s getting ready for the showdown.” “We still fear what we don’t know.” “It’s such a bitter form of refuge.” “Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed.” “I’m looking forward to this life I live.” “You’re caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.” “I hear those voices at night sometimes.” “Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door.” “You taught me everything I know.” “You go run and tell your friends I’m losing touch.” “Convince me that the truth is always grey.”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

@lightofoz liked for a starter.

“DG?” 

she’s not prone to fidgeting and it feels awkward, like being fifteen again, but at the same time she can’t summon enough composure to stand still. nerves, azkadellia thinks, do not suit her.

“...do you have a moment?”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

lightofoz

DG shakes her head. “No bears, I promise.” She frowns. “Well, there weren’t any earlier, so there probably aren’t any now.” She grabs her sister by the hand and takes off, tugging impatiently when Az doesn’t move fast enough for her. At long last she stops near a hole in the ground and peers inside, and sure enough, the baby bunnies she found earlier are still nestled inside. Still not seeing any sign of the mother, DG looked up at her sister, her eyes shining hopefully.

“Do you think we can keep them?”

“oh, well, that’s comforting,” azkadellia says dryly. “at least we probably won’t get eaten by any bears today.” 

it’s a moment’s work to get her feet in order so she can keep pace with DG—-how DG manages to leap from standstill to sprint without any intervening steps has always been a mystery to azkadellia, and it’s been the cause of more stumbles on her part than any other tripping hazard combined-—but once she settles into things, she finds she’s enjoying herself. she usually does on DG’s adventures, however reluctant she is to get roped into them in the first place.

she crouches over the rabbit’s little burrow, head bent so she’s bumping against DG to be able to see inside. 

“maybe,” she says, taking care to stress that word before DG can get ahead of herself. “but only if their parents aren’t around to take care of them.”

[stillnessbetween-blog]

                            save the poetry for someone who cares.

[stillnessbetween-blog]

starter call !!   ( will be done tomorrow evening. )

[stillnessbetween-blog]

toughgrxl

@stillnessbetween​

             She narrowed her eyes at the stranger, wondering what              exactly the stranger expected from colliding into her. Did              she believe that fae were nice? They weren’t evil, but               Marianne was no stranger to getting cruel when it came              to humans.           ❝ You know, faeries aren’t genies — sticking around doesn’t                                         mean you’ll get a wish. ❞

          Azkadellia simply returned the faery’s irritated           stare with one of her own. The sensible thing to           do would involve apologizing and hurrying away           before the more powerful being decided to take           retribution for the crime of being in the faery’s           way, but she had rather too much pride for that.

         ❝ I don’t believe in wishing. And I know better than             to ask, even if you were a genie. ❞

[stillnessbetween-blog]

magicicn

     ❝ no, PLEASE. ❞

the hatter gathers herself, taking a moment to let it SINK IN that she needs to be LIKED if she’s going to get herself out of this one. 

     so she smiles CHARMINGLY      after a moment, straightening      herself up and turning towards      the      tiny       THREAT.

❝ i’m SORRY. 

it was quite inconvenient of me to fall out of your mirror. my name is the mad hatter and i come from a WONDERLAND. ❞

❝ mad hatter is not a NAME. ❞ 

although the other information is elucidating, she supposes.

WONDERLAND... it’s one of many smaller realms to which the OTHER SIDE plays host, and one liable to turn men mad if they stay too long. that’s about the extent of her knowledge of the place, really.

      her eyes narrow.

❝ and just what, exactly,     brings you to the O.Z. ?? ❞ 

[aquoteadaykeepsthemonstersaway]

Playing with fire is bad for those who burn themselves. For the rest of us, it is a very great pleasure.

(via lipstickdrcgon)

[stillnessbetween-blog]

lightofoz

“I know.” Her shoulders slump ever so slightly, but it’s impossible for her mood to stay down for long, and she brightens a moment later, eyes sparkling in excitement. She might as well mention what it was she was running to tell her sister. “I found something in the woods, Az! You have to see!” She tugs at her sister’s arm impatiently.

she meets DG’s proclamation with an exasperated sigh (of course DG found something in the woods—-DG is always finding something or another somewhere dangerous), but she follows her sister anyway. DG’ll just go tearing off again on her own if azkadellia doesn’t come with her, and besides her enthusiasm is infectious. “if we meet another bear i’m going to be very cross,” she said, attempting to look severe and failing miserably. “...what did you find?”