It had started out as a joke. A comment about ‘basic’ Halloween costumes while they were smoking, a Google search with shopping links conveniently - temptingly - at the top of the page. He’d told Brayden in no uncertain terms that he would do it, and two business days later there’d been a decently-sized package in the mailroom for him, one he’d torn into gleefully, crowing his ‘Yes, way!’ in the face of Brayden’s disbelief.
It’s a basic premise, but there’s pieces to it, because Sterling doesn’t do anything by halves: a collar with an o-ring that sits at the hollow of his throat, a pair of cat ears that emerge from his curls, an obligatory mask, and some face paint (’Makeup,’ Sydney had reminded him cheerfully). A clean pair of high tops and an apparently very convincing argument from Arlo, and Sterling is primed and ready to pose and pucker his way through an only partially ironic costume as he parades unabashedly through the Vixen Den, tail swinging behind him.
SELF LOVE SELF PARA: Write a oneshot where your character interacts with a younger or older version of themself.
February 12, 2025 (and also February 12, 1991) — Menodora answers a call from someone she does not expect. Inspired by 'Landline.'
TW: none // CW: none
EXERPT:
It's the Middle of the Night when she gets the call.
Rung out of her dreams by a rotary phone at the end of the portrait hall, the dark faintly lit by her diamond marks.
She'd never noticed a rotary phone before.
That's because there hadn't been one...
Ring.....
Should she answer it?
Riiiiiing.....
If she doesn't, this risks waking someone, doesn't it?
SwynTask | July 2024 | Postcards From You || In sprawling hand, across heather adorned pages... a letter to Cassandra post-marked from Mjaunie, Denmark. The post-card matches the letter print, but all ended up enclosed in an envelope because the writing was just too copious to fit. Sent sometime in late March 2024.
Cassandra,
I hope the heart of spring is treating you well. Are the trees blossoming beautifully, is the sky just as indecisive as it was this past winter? I can only imagine how crisp the air might feel, in the city rather than in fields of rye. It's only for a week and yet I miss the proximity. I'm sure the walk from one end of the estate to the other is about the walk to reach your door.
Is that rude to say? Is that too unaware? Oh, Cass, I'm sorry. The way I put all my thoughts down before I even think. But I can't think.
The air feels different here, like the North Sea and blooming heather. It's the same, but altogether changed, from when I was a child. The sky meets the Moors and I can't help but think of how unfamiliar my entire life has become. I've never moved so far. Did you feel the same when you moved to Swynlake?
You won't tell anyone, will you? Ah, but no one there knows me. Alright, you may tell anyone who has an interest. Only I'm sure no one does so it is perhaps a useless permission.
Oh, Cass, I should bring you some apples. Maybe some Mjaunie flour. There is a bit of home that I wish to share with you that I worry will spoil by the time I return.
(Flight restrictions, as well, with fruit. But I digress.)
The late March air is lovely, but it would be lovelier with you here. Next year, perhaps? There's a crest beyond the veranda where I so wish to take you. It feels like you're standing on the edge of the world, yet all the world is before you. Is it small-minded to think that way? I suppose my life was very small before the world opened up to me.
That small peak... I think it calls to me just as the sun sets, and I hope it would call to you, too.
I miss you dearly and can't eat a single pastry without the thought of you and a desire to write you the recipe on stationery like this. It’s a depiction of the heather fields beyond my home, and I think of them as an escape, a sea of purple.
Last night our dessert was raspberry and lemon tarts. The night before, fluffy puff pastries with a jam center. My mother has a book of recipes somewhere, hidden away. I regret to say no one knows where it's hidden, we've turned the entire estate over twice looking. I believe it was pudding pie that my old tutor sought so fervently?
I would like to think I'm simpler than that. Though, you've seen my extravagance when it comes to hosting, to claim such a thing would be a lie.
Say you'll visit one day? You can bring Hiro. We have scads of beds, it would be no imposition.
Not that you could ever be an imposition to me.
River is so grateful for you, I should say. He's glad you've been such a friend and I could not agree more. But he wants you to have his personal thanks for making sure I was not alone in such a new place.
He says I'm more of a soul rather than Sole.... Which I would think is a fish but he means a lonely being.
Cassandra, have a lovely Spring Holiday. I’ll see you in a week, about.
Vala "Vee" Carrero-Noceda || Senior Spread || Gravesfield High, Class of 2022
CLASS OF ‘24: Make a page from your character’s yearbook! This can be their full class line-up, a superlative page (did they win class clown?), or any other yearbook-inspired page!
four positive traits: intelligent, witty, calculating, observant.
four negative traits: cold, distant, uncaring, cynical.
height: six feet, even.
languages spoken: english, french.
occupation: small business owner.
FAMILY.
parents: estranged parents, jean-paul mathieu and francine mathieu (née o’malley).
siblings: one younger brother, unnamed (max irons fc). he hasn’t seen him since he was fourteen.
other family: his aunt maureen, who he lived with from ages fourteen to twenty.
children: non-applicable.
SUPERNATURAL BASICS.
how did your character react to no longer being human?: he was scared. he’d never heard of any magic in his family, and he thought he was a monster. his parents did, too — which was why they sent him to live with his aunt in america.
what is the one thing about being human they will miss the most?: he’s fine with being a witch now, but when he first discovered his abilities, he missed being normal.
were they aware of supernatural creatures before they were changed/or discovered their abilities?: no.
what are their supernatural abilities?: as a witch, he has all of the basic powers, though his specialty is magical botany.
have they ever taken a life? if so, how do they feel about it?: no.
did they have any physical weaknesses as a human?: he had a limp after breaking his leg in a car accident at the age of ten. he still has it, and walks with a cane.
how they discovered their abilities: his mother was an alcoholic. when she was drunk, she was mean, and one night she was particularly bad. fourteen-year-old duval would never hurt his mother intentionally, but as she had him in a corner, yelling at him, slapping him, and spitting at him, he had enough. he balled his fists at his sides, closed his eyes, and yelled — get off of me! he heard a crash and opened his eyes, horrified at what he’d done. his mother had flown across the room and slammed into a wall, and was now surrounded in broken china that had fallen off from the shelf above her. she and his brother — naively on their mother’s side — insisted to his father that he’d done it all with his mind. and with that, he was off to live with his aunt.
FAVORITES.
favorite city: nowhere.
favorite movie: harry potter — he loves a good comedy.
favorite food: toast with raspberry jam.
favorite color: green.
favorite possession: his first spell book, given to him by his aunt.
highest level of education (if any): he didn’t go to college, as he felt it unnecessary.
EXTRAS.
biggest fear: being killed for his species.
do they smoke?: yes.
drink?: frequently.
pet peeves: people in general.
disabilities: limp from broken leg.
criminal record (if any): non-applicable.
tattoos (if any): a feather, just below the crook of his right elbow. the date he discovered his magic in roman numerals — XVI.XII.MCMXCIII — on his left shoulder blade.
