Shadowvapour. If I wanted to, I could blind everyone and keep secrets secret. Being a shade also doubles as being an empath/telepath, and I would be able to tell the dark and bright side of people. Plus, it would be a bit of fun to play around with bangs boy… >: )BUUUT Anyway. I think conjurer is also quite useful since you can just click your fingers and you get what you want.

so gently i stood,
my back turned against the world and the wind,
my rain-battered hair flying around me
standing next to me, before me, behind me
were others, just as wind-blasted and chilled as i was;
yet there’s a difference
they rushed to seek safety in their warm, dry havens
they rushed to escape the tyranny of the cold, wet rain
they rushed
away
from me.
while they ran from the outside,
from freedom,
i revelled, caressed by the sky’s cool touch
i delighted in the calm embrace of the heavens above
and though i may have been alone,
alone,



alone,

i know that i am not lonely,
enveloped in the love of my earth.

oh,
truly,
this may
not be the
most serious
of poems that
you will ever see
but indeed you can
now understand that
this poem is three-sided
and growing in hypotenuse
yes, it can really be said that
this poem is and about a triangle.

there one was a fellow who was sly
but no matter how hard he did try
he never could win
even with his own twin
no, indeed he couldn’t even tie!

the pool gleamed bright with sweat-streaked blue
its swimmers undulating sinously
the tiles were chipped, and perhaps “broken-in”
but its swimmers loved it all the same
the pool was both older and younger
than it first appeared to me
i felt its old soul yet both its young heart,
and it became my soulmate
for who would i be to leave this old pool
with its off-white tones and tiles
no, it belongs with me, and i to it
and its sandstone floor and walls.
my love of it may be shallow, perhaps
but again, so is the pool
only five-feet deep and even then,
its length still felt short to me

yet i’ll love this pool forevermore
for everything that it’s given.

popping up brightly
little sprigs of pink and red
early march flowers

Ashley, who produces content on Youtube and other sites under the name bestdressed, is a young creator who focuses primarily on thrifted clothing. Starting off making videos in high school, she has become recognized in the wider, mainstream fashion industry, recently making it into New York Fashion Weeks, one of the main fashion events in the world. In addition to her successful creator / influencer career, she also has received a traditional education, having earned a degree in film studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, a prestigious school. On Youtube, she is known for her “thrift haul” and “outfit ideas” videos, but has been making more personal, vlog-style content as of recently. With 3.8 million subscribers on Youtube and 1.6 million followers on a popular image-sharing app, her messages of sustainable fashion, her advice for normal teens on how to express themselves, and her relatable girl-next-door image have reached a substantial audience.
Her “sustainable fashion” image is derived mostly from her endorsement of thrifting, or buying clothing secondhand. The fashion industry is one of the worst environmentally in the world, as the “fast-fashion” mindset of cheap, flimsy, mass-produced goods leads to products that are made terribly and are thrown away quickly. Since thrifting helps extend the life of clothing, and removes some of the demand for new pieces, it has a generally positive impact. Ashley supports thrifting both for the lower prices of secondhand clothes and the aforementioned sustainable impact. However, I feel like her videos — many of which involve buying and showcasing dozens of clothes — may offset the value of thrifting, as they lead to a growing desire for clothing, no matter how used, and they take away from people who use thrifting as their main means of acquiring clothing due to lack of financial resources. She herself has acknowledged that she does not often wear a vast majority of these clothes. As I watch her videos, I can feel myself becoming more consumerist, despite my rational brain knowing that I don’t need these clothes. (In order to combat this, I use the dual powers of waiting a month before trying to buy something, and using my mother as a filter to only buy things that she approves). I also feel my own personal style — which is more dark / emo / whatever other adjectives you want to use — becoming influenced by hers, which is more bright and preppy and “cute”; and because most of my clothes right now don’t fit the latter description, my impulsive brain thinks I need more and more clothes.
Despite this, however, I believe her insights into the fashion world and her advice on how to dress are important and useful. Thrifting is a valuable way of extending the lifespan of clothing, and it is good that Ashley espouses those ideals. As long as one can keep a barrier up around oneself and recognize that these clothes are not necessary, Ashley’s content is a great resource for learning more about your style and how to express yourself through your clothing.

Night. A full moon and bright stars illuminate the scene. A boat washes up on a black shore. A woman and a girl — ASHLA and HOLVEIA — tumble out of it. They stand and look around, breathing deeply in and out. A moment. The girl turns to face the other woman.

HOLVEIA
Mom, mom! Is this where you were talking about? The — other place?

ASHLA
Yes, Holveia, it is. This is the other land, the land of darkness. Vashlyn.

HOLVEIA
(uncertainly)
Okay, then, what are we gonna do? Like, I’ve never been here, and I don’t know anything about this place.

She is trying to keep it together, despite being revolted? digusted? shaken? by her new environment. She stares into nothingness.

ASHLA
(not unkindly)
Shush. I agree, though. We need to get shelter, and rest, or else we will die.

She looks around for a while. Her eyes finally rest on a tiny smudge in the disance. She nods and gestures.

Come this way.

ASHLA and HOLVEIA begin to run towards the smudge, which comes gradually into focus. Both are moderately athletic, although HOLVEIA lags a little.
The smudge is a small ledge, jutting out of a slick wall of rock.
HOLVEIA turns to ask ASHLA why this is a good spot, but sees the look on her face and stops. They continue running.
Eventually, they make it to the cliff. The ledge is high above them.
A beat.

ASHLA
We must climb.

HOLVEIA
Seriously?

ASHLA looks at her daughter, stony-faced. A beat.

HOLVEIA
Fine.

Another moment passes before Holveia starts moving. Her mother, tired of waiting, starts climbing.

ASHLA
(teasingly)
Come on, my daughter!

HOLVEIA groans, but starts climbing. Slowly and precipitously, she makes her way up to the ledge.

Fade to black.

Fade in. HOLVEIA is lying on the ground, her eyes blinking open. ASHLA is already awake but is sitting down at the edge — there is not enough space in the small cave to stand.

HOLVEIA
Aghhhh, my back hurts.

No response.
Sighing, HOLVEIA crawls to the cave entrance and sits next to her mother, their legs dangling above the 20-foot height.

HOLVEIA
Mom, I heard screams last night. This is a terrible place. Thank Hadla herself we managed to find this.

ASHLA
(ignoring what was said)
Look.

She points to the horizon, where there is a silhouette of something dark and looming.

That’s our destination. The capital city of Vashlyn, Devilin.

HOLVEIA
(Whining — this is out of character for her, but she is tired)
But mom, that’s so far away!


ASHLA
(finally with some warmth)
Don’t worry, love, we’re not going all in one day. Wake up a bit more and let’s get going.

After a moment, she leaps down the cliff, incredibly lithely. From below, she beckons to HOLVEIA, who slowly and tremblingly went down.
Now on the ground, HOLVEIA looks in the direction of Devilin, but her view is blocked.

HOLVEIA
Holy Hadla! Those hills - are they safe?

ASHLA
Yes. I remember seeing those when I came here a long time ago. It wasn’t this side we say, though — I think we went around, and then we reached the city.

HOLVEIA
Wouldn’t that be easier, then? Why can’t we do that?

ASHLA
That would be a great idea, but the thing is, we don’t have any food or water. So the longer we take, the more likely we are to die, and that route will probably take a while.

HOLVEIA
(chagrined)
Yeah, you’re right, mom. But look at those! Don’t you think that those will tire us more than going around will?

ASHLA
(kindly)
I know you can do it.

They start trekking towards and up the hills, taking small breaks as they go. (Montage of climbing and resting).

Some time passes.

HOLVEIA
Hey, mom… This place. It isn’t all evil, is it? Look at those tiny, beautiful flowers — and those adorable bugs! Well, I guess Haarmonia wasn’t all good either. I mean, we ended up here for a reason.

ASHLA
You’re getting wiser, my daughter.

They look at each other and smile.

Timeskip to night. The two lay on the fields of flowers, resting. They are not at the top of the mountains yet, but they are closer then they were before.

HOLVEIA
Hey, mom? You said you came here one time — why did you? I thought we hated this land.

ASHLA
It’s… complicated. I’ll explain when we get to the city. For now, rest.

For the next two days, they trek. They reach the top of the mountain, and look down at the city — which looks grander and magnificent to their tired eyes. Every hour brings them closer and closer to the city, but HOLVEIA especially gets more and more tired. When they finally reach Devilin, they look ragged and empty.
ASHLA and HOLVEIA slump against the city walls, utterly exhausted.

Welcome, delicious friend, to the world of Fallen London! Although it may seem a bit disconcerting to those used to the surface — where the sun shines bright and life is boring — I assure you that Fallen London is actually a great place. Ever since it was swallowed up by the ground, London’s changed quite a bit — but its civilized charm and quirky nature have not changed at all, and neither has its beauty to tourists!
No matter what you’re searching for, you can find it! Looking for a rowdy, hedonistic adventure? Try going to Veilgarden — the Singing Mandrake, in particular, is a great experience for newcomers and returners alike. Or are you interesting in something more educational and hands-on? At Watchmaker’s Hill, you can hunt monsters under the watchful gaze of the blind and deaf astronomers working at the Observatory there. And for those brave souls seeking to try their hand at pickpocketing and other petty crimes, Spite is a great place to see what you’re made of. Be careful, though — just because you can’t die doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt!
If you’re willing to put a bit more effort into your visit, there’s more! Try pulling some strings to get into to the Shuttered Palace. The queen might be a monster now, after so long underground, but her parties are worth the effort. You’ll never know who you’ll meet there. To the more journalistically minded, consider trying to get into Doubt Street, the center of London’s newspaper industry. There, you’ll be able to see the various papers of London hard at work, making news for ordinary citizens to read and absorb. It’s truly wonderful! And if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, try buying a velocipede and making your way to the Bazaar Side-Streets — where the Masters of the Bazaar keep an eye (or two, or thirty) on the proceedings of the economy there. If you have any tales of love, prepare to receive a lot of payment!
Fallen London may seem scary to the newcomer, but as soon as you explore a little you’ll see that it’s truly a charming place. As long you ignore the monsters, the weird colors, the talking statues, the incredibly clever rats, the living baby-flower, the murder-for-hire industry, the assembly of skeletons, the Rubbery Men, the burning graffiti written on the walls… Oh dear, that’s a rather long list, isn’t it?

How to Shop Sustainably While Saving Money — a guide

step one: Before you go shopping — no matter at a thrift store or online or at a mall — think about what you want to get. Check if it fits the following criteria:
— how many times a month would you wear it? how many times a year? is that amount of times really worth your money?
— are you buying it because you genuinely like it, or because it’s trendy?
— how long in the future do you see yourself wearing? will you grow out of it soon, or will you wear it for years to come?
— is it an impulse buy, or have you thought about the piece of clothing often?

step two: Wait a while. No matter how much you want it now, as long as it isn’t necessary, wait. The amount of time should be influenced by a couple of factors, including:
— how expensive it is. The more expensive, the longer you should wait to make sure.
— how “trendy” it is. the more trendy you think it is, the longer you should wait to make sure that you actually want it.
— and others.
Generally, it’s best to err on the side of waiting too long. For a rule of thumb, for a normal piece of clothing that you’d wear often, wait about a month; for something more expensive or less useful, wait two months or more.

step three: Make a list. After you’ve decided what you really want, make a list of what you’ll buy and try to stick to it as best you can. Of course, if you see a really cool-looking shirt or something, you can choose to buy it — but there’s a high chance that you won’t actually like it too much in the long run, so be careful. Don’t be distracted by things that you’re not looking for — you’ll appreciate it in the long run.

step four: Choose your shop. There are three main ways to shop — at a clothing shop or a mall, at a secondhand shop or a thrift store, and online. Each of these have their own pros and cons.
Mall: You can get lots of options in one place, and you can try things on your body to see if they fit. The items are also new, so you can be reasonably sure they’re clean. These items are often organized and easy to find, but more expensive.
Thrift store: You don’t know if you’re going to find what you’re looking for. These items have already been worn, so their sanitation is not guaranteed. On the plus side, they are much cheaper, and have much less environmental impact. You can also wear items to check that they fit.
Online: Very, very well organized and clean, and if you don’t like social interaction, that’s a plus too. However, you can’t wear items to check if they fit and you may be charged extra for shipping. If you’re ordering online, make sure to check the return policy.

step five: After you’ve chosen your method, go and buy the thing! If you’re buying in-person, consider going with a friend or a family member to rein you in and keep you from making impulse decisions. If you’re buying online, have someone double-check everything to make sure that you don’t make a mistake.
NOTE: If you’re buying something in-person, try all the brands and a bunch of different sizes till you find the perfect piece. Especially if you’re trying to buy something where fit is really important — like jeans or a tight shirt — this is really important. Although it may seem awkward, trying out a bunch of options keeps you from getting something that doesn’t fit you perfectly.

step six: Celebrate! Although this process seems really long and unneccessary, in the long run it’s better for you, your money, and the environment. You’ll save money to use on other things while having less clothes that you like more, which will make choosing an outfit easier. And you’ll feel satisfied, knowing that you defeated the companies who are trying to make you spend, spend, spend your money.

Author's note (aka edit): I got the time to revise today, hooray! I didn't even change anything because surprisingly there was nothing to change lol. I am definitely not getting 8 hours of sleep now-

Thanks for reading! ^^

main cabin weekly ⍋ 03.05.22
word count: 3170

Cecil glanced at their horrified faces. “Look I know this sounds wrong, but if we don’t do this there’s going to be worse things happening than a blown up train.”

“Wait… what?” Azure whipped her head around to see Cedar and Griffin standing there, eyes wide in shock. “What kind of worse things?” Griffin continued; her hands twitched, as if they wanted to fidget with something (her nervous habit.)

“Let's just put it this way,” Tarian said. “You can work with us here, people who don't want to murder you, and do as we say,” they held out one hand. “Orrrr, you can face the captain things that actually want to murder you!” Tarian finished, holding out their other hand. They shrugged. “Your choice.”

Cecil nodded. “And you, girl with black hair. You seem like you would like arson. And maybe if you let us do this we'll get you to wherever in return.”

“Hmm.“ Azure thought. ”I DO like arson. Okay, it's a deal, as long as you promise to take us to where we want after it's done.“ she glanced at Griffin and Cedar. ”It's okay we're making this deal without Austin and Forrest, right?“

Griffin shrugged. ”Sure.“ she turned to Cecil. ”BUT, you have to let us help you. Because honestly, sitting on this train for so long is getting boring. And if I'm distracted from the urge to throw up, I might be able to hold it in.“ they continued.

“We’ve got a deal, then!” Tarian grinned. “Arson Boy’ll do his thing, in the meantime, you can help us place the explo-“

Their scheming was cut off by the noise of a large crash, sounding out from the other side of the train. Tarian’s grin faded. “Well, dang,” they said. “That would be the murderers.”

“Get out of the way!” Cecil shouted, clicking his lighter. The fire burst out, creating a smokescreen. Before anyone could catch a glimpse of said murderers the world turned gray. Someone started coughing. Oops. Maybe he'd made it a bit too thick for them to move to another area. He quickly dissipated the smoke, but they were gone. If the weapons were at the end of the train they were rushing to get them. He started running after, Tarian complaining about being dragged again.

“WAIT FOR US!” Griffin yelled, but to no avail. She coughed and groaned. “Ugh. Why does nobody wait for us? Why don’t they realize we want to help them?” they sighed. Azure patted their back half heartedly. “There there,” she tried. “Come on, let’s go find them. It’s not too late.” She grabbed Griffin’s hand and pulled them forward, Cedar running after the two (Oops. She had forgotten xe was there.)

“Seriously, bro, I'd really appreciate it if you at least-ahh- gave me a heads-up before you try and dislocate my shoulder!” Tarian grunted as they nearly avoided slamming into a train pole (sob idk what to call them but you know those poles for standing on subways and stuff xD) They could hear the kids on the train yelling after them from behind- hopefully the sane one kept the other two from getting in their way.

As they tore through car after car, they finally reached the back. Tarian kicked open the door, dramatically pumping their fist in the air as they ran in and cried, “Fall, mortals! You have been defeated by the Arson-” Their sentence was cut off short as they realized what was happening.

Most of the captains where holding packages of weapons, enclosed in gold-locked black cases. But two of them were holding something far, far worse- bodies. One was the blonde boy, slumped over the Captain's shoulder. The other was a slightly smaller, white haired boy, also unconcious and being carried in the arms of another. Oh shoot. The other two train kids.

“Lex, Vi, take the, uh, kids. I'll hande this,” The tallest one pulled out something from the bag and pulled the trigger, a massive purple explosion clouding their vision. By the time they woke up, everything and everyone was gone.

author’s note: aight, we’re going to take this section by section! xDD

poetry :: i. cannot. write. poetry. xDD both of my friends sushi and fenn recommended trying to express myself and my emotions through poetry, but that’s not something i’m not very good at, personally. making something like that sound eloquent- it’s something i struggle with every day. that’s why i prefer to write about things i’m passionate about- particularly fandoms! which is why ⅗ of these poems are fandom related xDD the first is a hadestown acrostic that i am admittedly not proud of, it could have been a lot better. the second is the diamante, which is a symbolic poem between a water-elemental character and lightning-elemental one! they’re very gay :] the poem is cool, but i don’t think i captured their personalities! it’s quite the opposite really xD now the third one, i’m honestly proud of. loki says love is a dagger, i say time is a sword >:> i actually took my friends’ advice this time and tried to take something from emotions? lately procrastination has left me feeling really empty, tired, and dead inside, hence the poem. i guess my friends were right xDD then we went back to fandom related poems in #4, which is about jinx from arcane, who i love with my entire soul and being. if you watch arcane, come to my profile, i will gladly rave with you for hours :0 the fifth is alright, it’s just about some stuff i’m going through because :life: and :covid: xD poetry is really interesting! it’s just not my speciality xD

essay :: AISJDJD I AM SO PROUD OF THAT INTRO PARAGRAPH I SPENT SO LONG ON IT :’)) this is a topic my uncle and i have debated about heavily on multiple counts, so i decided to write a whole essay on it! it was honestly so much fun and turned out a lot longer than i expected. the conclusion is atrocious, but we’ll ignore that xDD i have so much more to say but finger pain sobb xD

script :: *chanting* Z POWER CODED! Z POWER CODED! anyone who read fenn’s weekly, which can be found here at the bottom of this post ( https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/582424/?page=1#post-6065997 ) will have already been exposed to z power coded, but i cannot stress how AMAZING it is. it is my life. there is no before or after z power coded, there is only z power coded. and the burning elmo trio <33

nonfiction :: okay, writing that lin-manuel miranda biography was like, the best decision of my life? i learned so many interesting facts about my idol AND ALSO THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF IN THE HEIGHTS LEFT ME POSITIVELY REELING- gay <33 but yes, lin-manuel miranda is an absolute icon and genius and i respect him greatly

in conclusion, this was a really fun weekly! tiring, but fun xD i really enjoyed being exposed to new types of writing that i normally don’t indulge in! this is also the first time in three sessions of swc that i’m submitting a weekly that’s not on the last day :00 i’m in shock xD

also someone remind me to not do so much formatting in weeklies especially on mobile this took like half an hour xD

Poetry
Weekly, Part 1

Written by Wari
301 words

Next, Part 2: Why you should sleep more

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✯Weekly #1 Part 1: Poetry✯
Haha, my forte (◕ᴗ◕✿)

Total words: 463
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