horror cabin ▮ main cabin ▮ food court ▮ game center ▮ word counter

[ main cabin dailies ]

07.01 ♠ introduction (1383 words)
07.02 ♠ pedestals: magic 8-ball (422 words)
07.03 ♠ yellow packages: act of kindness (512 words)
07.05 ♠ “bananas can be scary too:” proverbs (408 words)
07.06 ♠ scattered papers: horoscopes (503 words)

[ weeklies ]

07.03 - 07.09 ♣ fanfiction (4018 words)
part one: 1236 words ╱ part two: 1075 words ╱ part three: 1001 words ╱ part four: 539 words

07.10 - 00.00 ♣ newspaper articles (0000 words)
part one: 000 words ╱ part two: 000 words ╱ part three: 000 words ╱ part four: 000 words

00.00 - 00.00 ♣ weekly summarization (0000 words)
part one: 000 words ╱ part two: 000 words ╱ part three: 000 words ╱ part four: 000 words

[ word wars ]

07.07 ♦ won word war with @twilightstar22 (00 words)
00.00 ♦ lost word war with @username (00 words)

[ other writing ]

07.02 ♥ sci-fi introduction (301 words)
00.00 ♥ brief description (000 words)

main cabin daily #1 ♠ 07.01.22
[ 1383 words ]

Hello there! Whomever is reading this, it is a pleasure to meet your virtual acquaintance. I’m extremely excited for this session of SWC. This month, I vowed to focus more on the quality of my writing rather than the quantity of what I wrote- and yet, here we are, shooting for a one thousand word introduction. Regardless, I still hope to stay true to that goal, even through this introduction!

On Scratch, I’ve been going by Luna for about a year. I never was one to take on aliases- I never really saw myself past my own real name. I recall when I was younger, the kids in the neighborhood would all gather around and play a game of Family or something along those lines- there would be one kid pretending to be an Army soldier named Robert, another being the mom called Sara, and so on. I always insisted on being referred to by my actual name, and to this day, I still don’t know why I insisted so heavily on that. In fact, I had never settled on a nickname for myself on this website either! The people I interacted with just happened to dub me as “Luna,” and I went along with it and eventually grew into it.

Fandoms are one of the largest parts of my life. The first fandom I ever got into was the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, which still holds a very dear place in my heart today. My best friend, Rani was the one who first had the obsession, and encouraged me to get into it as well. The second I got home, I opened one of the books and read through the whole thing in about 2 hours, and went on straight to the next. I was captivated in a way that is simply indescribable- that feeling of becoming hyper-obsessed with a fandom is normal to me now, but experiencing that for the first time was truly magical. Fourth-grade me would not stop talking about Harry Potter for the life of her- even to the point where she drove one of her friends to the brink of despising the series from how much she talked about it. I became known in my grade as the token Harry Potter fanatic, which I didn’t mind in the slightest! Somehow enough, getting into a fandom gave me a definitive and distinctive personality. That aside, one of the reasons I love fandoms and fiction so much is because of the immersion it gives me. I can get engrossed in the characters, the endless theories and scenarios, and not to mention being able to share that same love with other people. Since then, I’ve grown into tens more of fandoms, all of which I will still gladly talk about. Fandoms brought me into my love of writing, art, and drew me to several of the friends I have today- I’m very glad that I stumbled upon Harry Potter, because it was a key factor to the identity I’ve grown for myself today.

The arts have also grown into a major part of who I am. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been immersed in the arts in some shape or form. Apart from writing, one of my biggest hobbies has been music- both listening to and playing. I’ve been a violinist for five years now, and I can safely say that the alto clef is not nearly as scary as the people who play it. /j Regardless, orchestra is something I’ve grown to love deeply, especially this year- our chamber orchestra class was filled with some of the greatest players and people I’ve ever met at school. There’s a lot of moving parts to an orchestra, along with all the techniques and technicalities that go with just one individual instrument,

Adding onto this, I took piano lessons for two years, but ultimately quit to continue hip-hop dance. I still play excerpts of songs on my piano from time to time, like Sweater Weather or Enemy. I listen to an immense amount of music as well- generally musical theatre or something like Imagine Dragons or The Score, although I have listened to the Arcane soundtrack far too often to the point where I can’t tell when it’s playing. I took a filmmaking class in sixth grade, and sometimes my friends and I will put together short films or parodies to cursed soundtracks we dig up on the Internet. I’ve done dance for approximately nine years now- I took a mix of ballet, tap, and jazz classes when I was younger, quit for about a year, and then picked up hip-hop about five years back and have been doing it ever since. While human anatomy despises me, drawing geometric and abstract art has become a soothing hobby of mine, and digital art is something I have been attempting recently. And this coming August, I shall become a theatre kid, as I’m taking theatre as an elective next school year!

Of course, the greatest hobby I’ve had, and hopefully always will have, is writing. Naturally, given the requirement of English/Language Arts classes, I’ve been writing ever since I was 3 or 4. However, I didn’t make my way into the world of writing till March 2020, which most remember as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe the first thing that kicked off my writing career was a Keeper of the Lost Cities fanfiction called “Rise From the Ashes.” My friend had shared her own fanfiction with us, thus inspiring me to write my own. Much to my chagrin, looking back on that old writing is quite agonizing- not to mention the fact that I had shared it with about ten of my friends. While this struck the first few sparks, what really lit the match for me was United. This was the first, big writing project that I’ve put a vast sum of effort into, and hope to actually make my future someday. It’s a collaborative novel series that Rani and I have been working on for two years, and the characters and story have evolved so much and helped us to expand as writers as well. The plan is to finish co-writing and publish it someday- and it was writing this novel that brought me to my desire to be a full-time writer when I grow up.

Over the past few years, writing has come to mean an enormous amount to me. It’s a passion I can pursue, be invigorated, inspired, moved by- the type of thing I can immerse myself in to the point where I’m not putting letters on a page but navigating the tunnels and webs in what I can only elucidate as the multiverse of writing. It lets me put the more muddled emotions into a different form, or sometimes straight-up masking them completely by engaging in a brand-new fantasy world. It provides both an outlet and a distraction, a passion and a sense of joy; it’s whatever I want it to be for myself.

SWC has been one of the best ways for me to write and improve my skill set over the past year. Any writer will know the struggles of motivation or procrastination, and SWC provides the spark that sends us ricocheting off to write hundreds and thousands of words. It pushes me to write every day and to write as much and as best as I can- which is why I’m focusing in on quality over quantity this session. I hope to take this invigoration and utilize the resources that Scratch Writing Camp has given me, and elevate my writing to the next level.

This turned out to be much more profound than I originally planned, but I’m still pleased with how this turned out! I tend to say the same information every time I do my introductions, but this time I went much more in-depth than I usually do. I didn’t even have to take up a solid 200 words with a pointless ramble about my 22-now-70 cults this time. While Horror is most evidently superior, I hope you have a spectacular experience in SWC regardless of your cabin! I will be here as your resident sleep-deprived buddy should you need me. :) Farewell!

sci-fi introduction activity ♥ 07.02.22
[ 301 words ]

Hello there! (General Kenobi, you are a bold one :>) I’m Luna, although I’ve also been called Lukatie, Lunescream, Luno and a multitude of other nicknames. My preferred pronouns are she/her, and this is my fourth session of SWC! One of my goals this month around is to focus more on quality rather than quantity- Scratch Writing Camp has helped me immensely with finding the motivation to write and to write a lot- so I hope to take it to the next level and improve the quality of all the chaos I write! Apart from writing, one of my hobbies is music- I’ve been playing violin for the past 5 years (I’m playing in the second-highest orchestra at my high school next year!) and I’m a somewhat self-taught pianist! I took lessons from third to fourth grade, and though I don’t remember a single thing from those days, from time to time I’ll learn half a cover of one of my favorite songs. I don’t know if I exactly play video games- unless mobile Genshin Impact counts? The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is Medieval Cop. My dream superpower would obviously be pyrokinesis because arson- though I do think that fraxikinesis (the ability to manipulate burnt matter) would actually be a more interesting concept to explore! As for a role in the hacking ring, apart from being a spectacular sci-fi honorary/lavish lavoratory, I’d likely fit best in the role of the undercover- I can finally put my dramatic theatre kid skills to use :D A random fact about me is that I have a notorious track record for being sleep-deprived- my all time low is 2 hours and 13 minutes, I wonder if I’ll be able to beat that this session ;D

main cabin daily #2 ♠ 07.02.22
[ 422 words ]

{ Does it break? As I see it, yes. }

The diadem cascades off the top of the head, plummeting to the ground.
One after another, they shatter upon the marble, fragments of amber spinning everywhere.
Figures slump forward, diamond thrones stained ruby.

Together, they all fall from their pedestals.

Poised, poignant, and surrounded by the scent of ambrosial fragrance mixed with acrid flesh, a brief silence hangs in the air, dangling from a thread of tension. Monarchy lies obliterated, lineage guiltlessly cut at the end of the rope. Little and old, crowns gone and broken. A world now vulnerable to freedom.

Approaching, the window slides open. Chilling midnight wind howls through the opening, exposing the frost-dusted dominion below. Clambering out, sounds muffled by the cacophony of the kingdom, the royals are left to be discovered by their hirelings. With hesitant shuffles across the outer cobblestone ledge, eventually a rusted ladder comes into sight, leaning against an upper platform. Still with caution, breeze whistling in the ears, the platform comes within legs’ reach. Gripping the walls tightly, weight is slowly pressed down onto the wooden pedestal.

{ Will they fall off the platform? Yes, definitely. }

The platform gives way, splintering to the touch. Foot mid-air, the balance is thrown lopsided. The other one slips, and hands reach out to grab something, anything-

A searing warmth cups palms as a wall torch is tightly gripped, clinging to the handle that props the flame with dear, fragile life. So unprotected, exposed, in a matter of heartbeats.

A glance to one side, a glance to the right, eyes darting everywhere in a frantic fright. The fortresses’ walls are smooth in stone, firelit torches spread far too many hairsbreadths apart from arms’ reach. This problem cannot be solved with a sword, the breaking of the flesh. This is a test of hypocrisy.

{ Survive? My answer is no. }

Arms grow tired, aching as they cling to final hope. No future appears imminent.

Is this the cost for crime?

In a land of control, monarchy, threads of freedom are wrapped within a knot of sovereignty. They become unraveled, tugging on an end and pulling till it lets go.

But to let a hand go from a torch…

It would mean to let go of all that lives had been stolen for, wounds sitched and values broken. One after another, leading to a final sacrifice.

But there is no martyrdom for the wrongdoers.

The royals eternal slumber, the crowns’ crumbling shatter, the assassin sightless plummet; together, they all fall from their pedestals.

▻ author's note:

YAYY MY FIRST AUTHOR’S NOTE OF THE SESSION I LOVE WRITING THESE B)) I admittedly don’t have too much to say on this, haha- this was originally inspired by a song my friend sent me last night that he wrote? It was all about “down with the government” and whatnot hence the idea for this- and the murder came because I started writing this as soon as I finished watching Stranger Things 4.2- SKJLDKJL I AM STILL REELING FROM THE FINALE AND THE BYLER SCENE >:0 no one can tell me Will is not fruity skjldkjf

Anyways, I was trying to veer away from having a perspective here? I specifically tried not to use any pronouns or put it from a perspective- I have no idea what I was thinking, I suppose it was just an experiment.

There’s a whole metaphorical thing with the pedestal here I had in the beginning and somewhat butchered in the end- the royals dying is like them falling from their pedestals of power, the crowns breaking when they fall off the head of the executed is another pedestal reference, and then the assassin falling to their doom. I have no idea where it came from but we rolled with it to the end I suppose sdljdskg

Overall I think this greatly decreased in quality and I’m admittedly only a fan of the first 70 words or so, but it is what it is! I hope to focus less on putting down the work itself and more on things I can do better- for instance, keeping a sense of coherence throughout the entire story. And experimenting was fun too! I have the whole session to improve ahaha <3 If you happen to be reading this, thank you for listening to my ramble!

main cabin daily #5 ♠ 07.05.22
[ 408 words ]

“So, now that you’ve cleaned your room, what are we burning down first?” Moonlit asked as she handed Luna her flamethrower, who took it in her hands with the utmost delight.

“We have the helicopter,” Luna replied, gesturing to the conspicuous vehicle beside xem. While it was black and mysterious like the dead of night, perfect for camouflage- she had still insisted on having neon flames painted all over the body. “We can fly out of the country, maybe find a large factory, and burn it down? Then we could build a real life SWC out of the ashes.”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” Moonlit agreed cheerfully. Moonlit started climbing into the helicopter, whilst Luna stuffed a few more things into the storage compartment: a large ruler, a protractor, and a calculator. One could never be too prepared- the possibility of falling into a volcano or mysterious sea cavern was more daunting than ever, and using trigonometry to calculate the length of a rope needed to escape was evidently the optimum solution.

Luna seemed to be taking an extremely long while to put in the last few items, so Moonlit decided to head back and see what was taking her so long.

As Moonlit turned to investigate behind her, she was astounded by what she saw. Where Luna once was, there was Luna no more- but a bright yellow banana contorted into a position similar to that of a slug, with chartreuse green lips and 8 hot pink heels dangling from string as legs. Luna blinked at her twice with wide, blue eyes, and Moonlit let out a horrified scream, her hands flying to her mouth.

Suddenly, another person stepped out from behind the flamethrower in storage, spreading her hands wide and laughing diabolically. “My plans have been accomplished,” she said. “I, Daisy the Enchantress of the world 2020, have begun my journey to turning all human beings into a banana.”

Moonlit stared, aghast at the evil glee of Daisy the Enchantress, who used to be her friend at SWC- but clearly she had changed over the four months between session. “But why, Daisy?” she asked, betrayal seeping into her voice. “Why would you do such a thing to Luna?”

Daisy smirked, holding her palms up innocently. “Bananas are scary too, Moonlit. They must learn to be feared.”

The last thing Moonlit saw was a bright, yellow light emitting from Daisy’s palms, that slowly began to consume her vision.

A/N: I need to go soon, so this will be quick! xD
This whole thing is basically a recreation of a bunch of inside jokes between me, daisy and moonlit LOL
So yes moonlit and daisy enjoy and thank you for being awesome B)
You guys make great protagonist + antagonist material
And everyone else enjoy chaos
FAREWELL MWAHAHA
FEAR BANANAS

main cabin weekly #1 ♣ 07.03.22 - 07.09.22
[ TBD words ]

▻ part one ♔ character consistency
{ total word count: 1236 ▮ excluding reference sheet: 561 }

The character I selected was Jinx/Powder from Arcane: League of Legends. This part of my weekly contains major spoilers for the show- please do proceed accordingly! :)

Character Reference Sheet for Jinx (Season 1 from the Arcane, Netflix series created by Riot)
Series continuing or ended?: Continuing

Pronouns: she/her
Species: human (chemically altered as of Act 3)
Age Range: 17-19 (currently, as of Acts 2-3), 11-12 (Act 1)
Other Aliases: Powder (childhood name), Pow-Pow (play on childhood name from her sister, now used to name her weapon), The Loose Cannon
Eye Color (detail to her mental state): Grey as Powder (Act 1), Blue as Jinx (Act 2), Blue-grey in conflicted state (ex. battle scene with Ekko), Magenta (current, chemically altered by Shimmer, loss of sanity)

Strengths: Inventive, curious, “high level of creativity and intelligence” (as quoted from FandomWiki), observant, merciless, energetic, relentless, confident, unapologetic
(former) strengths: Compassionate, selfless, loyal
Weaknesses: Impulsive, manic, paranoid, possessive, destructive, extremely codependent, careless, approval/redemption-seeking
(former) weaknesses: Timid, fearful, naive, clueless

General View of Life: Fearful and centered on her sister (as of Act 1), still centric/haunted on her sister (and additional trauma + guilt from adoptive family) but now more confident; “world is her playground” (in reference to the Arcane soundtrack; as of Act 2), twisted by Shimmer, more hopeless and vengeful (currently/as of Act 3)

Relationships:
‣ Family: Violet (elder sister/archnemesis), Silco (adoptive father/father figure, deceased), Vander (adoptive father/former father figure, deceased), Mylo (deceased adoptive brother), Claggor (deceased adoptive brother), unnamed mother and father (deceased)
‣ Adversaries: Vi, Ekko (childhood friend), Caitlyn Kiramman, Sevika, Council of Piltover (including Mel Medarda and Jayce Talis)

Tendencies:
‣ Has chaotic hallucinations in both visuals and auditory form, usually depicting of her former friends and family as a form of trauma from the events in Act 1
‣ Improvement: No improvement, staying the same
‣ Acts rashly in forms of extreme destruction (of both others and herself), views commonly as the only solution
‣ Improvement: Declining, growing worse (additionally an effect from chemical alteration of Shimmer)
‣ Extremely dependent on loved ones, grows to the point of obsession, paranoia and possessiveness
‣ Improvement: No improvement, learned to move on from her sister but has directed that feeling towards Silco instead

Situations:
Losing a family member (generally by her intentional/unintentional causing) -
‣ Channels grief into rage, susceptible to manipulation, tendencies of self-guilt
‣ Seeks comfort and another person to redirect her feelings for the deceased/absent person
‣ Upon running out of people to attach herself to, is eventually left alone and becomes obsessed with fulfilling their desires and redeeming herself for her actions
In which things are her fault; failing a loved one -
‣ Relentless to redeem herself, general sense of panic induced by her childhood events as Powder
‣ Becomes desperate and risky in her actions, blinded to any potential consequences of said actions
‣ Outcome is usually an impulsive and/or destructive act, repercussions end in her failure to redeem herself from the consequences she ignored that are now burdened on her loved ones
Dealing with a major/traumatic event of her past -
‣ Frequent and chaotic hallucinations, usually of people/things relating to the event (ex. Mylo and Claggor’s beratement after inadvertently killing them)

Additional Notes:
‣ Jinx is constantly stuck in a loop- as Powder, she was the mess-up or the “jinx-” hence the nickname. In an attempt to become more than this, she acts impulsively and destructively in the hopes of fixing previous mistakes. Instead, this again causes problems, leading to a cycle of increasingly-desctructive, desperate, and more risky actions.
‣ Crow Motif - Jinx has an affinity for crows showcased in several small visual details in the show (crow feathers on the desk, crows decorated on her chair at the “tea party,” an intentional detail as crows are generally a bad omen/sign of bad luck. Depictions of her inner conflict are added to this in 1x04 with the shooting of the crow scene. This is mostly just me giving an excuse to ramble about subtle details in the show, but this could be an underlying reference to her character if I find a way to incorporate it into my scenario.

The explosion took a moment to sink in. A golden missile, sailing across a scarlet-stricken sky; arcing over the City of Progress and hurtling into the glass edifice that marks the bitter soul of the city. The Council erupting into flaming, glistening light as the impact buzzes through the ground. Screams of dismay being heard from the streets below, scuttling like insects from her vantage point.

Even from a distance, Jinx could see Piltover fall.

Chest heaving, her blast cannon fell limp in her hands as she gazed at the obliteration with burning, magenta eyes. She could feel the Shimmer searing behind her iris, coursing through her like adrenaline.

She did it. She fulfilled Silco’s wishes.

Silco.

Jinx turned around and wandered back into the tea room, azure braids brushing her ankles. Spray-painted metal contorted into chairs, shattered teacups scattered across the table, a single saucer with sweet dessert, noticeably missing a little blue crystal.

And there he was, lying in the farthest chair, slumped on silver armrests with sickly gray skin, his glazed onyx eye that Jinx had helped him with so many times. She approached him curiously, puffing a lock of hair out of her face.

Crimson spilled from Silcs abdomen, dripping down onto the floor. His jaw was slightly unhinged, as if he had more to say, trying to finish a penultimate sentence.

“Don’t cry… you’re perfect.”

“I…I didn’t mean to kill him,” she croaked to the empty room. “I didn’t… mean to. It was an accident.”

“They’re dead, because of you, Powder! Mylo and Claggor, Vander, they’re dead because of you!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” Jinx sank to the ground in front of Silco, her si- Vi’s anguished voice echoing across her brain. She clutched her head, breathing erratically, repeating it over and over. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to—“

The bruised, bloody bandaged hand came in sharp contact with Powder’s face, crumbling any hope she had left, any love she had left.

“Violet, please!” she had screamed, now begging on her knees. Poor Powder. Such a helpless little girl, so unwanted, so incompetent. Even Vi had seen it at that moment.

Then came the phrase. The final phrase, her namesake, her power, her pain… everything.

“You’re a jinx!”

The heat began to rush to Jinx’s eyes, more than just shimmer- weakness, absolute weakness. Her body twitched, she had to gasp for air as it began to consume her.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do.

She acted.

Screaming to the loudest of her limits, she leaped up, hoisted up Pow-Pow and slammed down on the trigger. She let it reign free, ricocheting off the walls, shattering the glass. She spun around, letting it fire everywhere, her voice as unhinged as her gun.

And as soon as she finished, she right sank back down, panting in haphazard gasps. Eyes shimmering with more than just chemicals, she let out a resounding sob, and then another, and then another.

Mylo and Claggor were gone. Vander was gone. Vi was gone. Silco was gone. She has failed them all.

Lips shaking, she rocked back and forth on the floor, Vi and Silco’s voices swirling around together in her brain one final time.

“One day, this city’s going to respect us.”

“We will show them. We will show them all.”


 ────────── ⚁


▻ part two ♕ character voice
{ total word count: 1075 ▮ descriptions: 126 & 141 ▮ passage lengths: 395 & 370 }

For the second part of my weekly, I’m choosing to use Orpheus and Eurydice from the stunning Broadway musical, Hadestown! I’ll be writing a prose recreation of Doubt Comes In, in which Orpheus and Eurydice must take the path back from Hadestown.

Orpheus is paranoid. At this time of the story, he is no longer the naive, optimistic idealist who hoped to make spring come again- upon gaining her back and stepping foot into Hadestown, he can now only see the world for what it is rather than what it could be. He is anxious, hopeless, terrified of losing Eurydice once again. As he has been shown to be an empathetic and intuitive person throughout, his words would likely be introspective and observant to a degree, rather than just perceiving surface values. This would also lead him to constantly deeper questions that would spiral and fuel his fear of losing Eurydice- from this point in time, he’d have very fearful speech, and be overthinking all past events thoroughly.

Eurydice is typically the realist of the duo, more sarcastic, blunt and pessimistic in her views. Over time, she’s become more of a happy and hopeful person because of Orpheus, but fell back into her slump when he began to neglect her for his work (the song to make spring come again), which is what inevitably caused her to go to Hadestown. Now reunited with Orpheus, she is overjoyed and feels extremely guilty for her actions, and is now the voice of light as they venture back home. Regardless of her more hopeful outlook on things, she would still be outspoken and unafraid to express herself, contrardictory to Orpheus. Given her rough history, and her desire to make up for her guilt (while being completely out of control of the situation), I think her tone would be slightly aggressive as well.

{ orpheus’ scene }

Keep on walking and don’t look back.

The wind feels numb on me. It’s hitting against my arms, chilling, but it doesn’t bother me. I already feel frozen, buzzing.

The railroad tracks are much more bleak than when I was journeying to Hadestown. My lyre is still strapped across my back, I still walk this road alone, or so I fear.

I feel her. Her presence is comfort alone in the darkest hour of the darkest night, hovering just over my shoulder, but I can’t see her. I see her and I lose her, I don’t and I feel like I still am. It takes everything in me to not stop, to turn around and look back, to make sure she is still there behind me. I cannot fail her. Not after what I’ve done. Leaving her to the hands of Hades, to the Fates…

But I cannot be certain. She must be the same as I am, right behind me, desiring nothing more than to get out of her in each others’ company. Or perhaps I am wrong, and Eurydice has chosen to stay with Hades. Leaving her to starve as I sing. I play the lyre, I am a liar.

Who am I to think she would follow me into the cold and dark, yet again?

Or this is all an illusion, a trick being played on me. I betray her, I hurt her, I need her. I will do anything to protect her, I use my song to save her, I persuade Hades, I bring him to his lover in exchange for him returning mine. Could Hades be sitting behind his wall, raising his cups to the boy he deceived?

Who am I?
Who am I against him?
Why would he let me win?
Why would he let her go?

I used to see the way the world could be, but now the way it is is all I see.
I must see her.

I am right behind you. I have been all along.

And there she is.

“It’s you.”

“It’s me.”

Eurydice gazes back at me, her face contorting between a bittersweet smile and terrified pain. The darkness comes for her, engulfing her frame. She finally starts to disappear, right before my eyes. Hades has won, he has taken her. I have lost her.

“Orpheus…”

He knew.

“Eurydice.”

{ eurydice’s scene }

He better not look back. I swear to Persephone herself. If he looks back, I’ll make Hades take him six feet under before he takes me.

The walk from Hadestown is far more terrifying than Hadestown itself. Rusted tracks that crack slightly under my feet, frozen winds blasting against my bare arms, grey atmospheres and absolute darkness. It scares me.

But what terrifies me, quakes me to my very bone is Orpheus. He’s hunched over, stiffened as he walks. I want to reach out to him, rest my hand on his shoulder and tell him it’ll all be okay- but if I do that, I risk losing him forever.

I can tell he’s lost in his own thoughts. It kills him, it’s unbearable for him to be unsure of whether I’m behind him- but I always will be. I will be with him in the darkest night, the darkest hour. So I tell him- but I’m not sure if he hears me.

“Are you listening?” I ask, but I don’t get a response. “I am right here, and I will be till the end…”

I repeat those words to him, over and over, but we continue to walk forward. I can’t help but fear for my life, for our love as we trek on. I can feel the tension as we go, the dual panic, uncertainty. The most I can do is provide words to let him know where I am, where my heart lies. That’s what he taught me, after all.

“I am right behind you, and I have been all alon–”

Orpheus stops in his tracks, and before I can finish my sentence, he spins on his heels to face me.

No.

He looks at me with shattered eyes. A moment of understanding passes between me and him- he knows what he’s done. Hades will take me.
Shadows begin to engulf my frame as our eyes lock, the god coming to seek his payment. I reach my hand out. “Orpheus…”

No.

This isn’t fair. I need Orpheus. I need to atone for what I did to him, I need to live again, I need him to live-

No.

“Eurydice,” he whispers, and then the darkness consumes my vision.

  ────────── ⚁

▻ part three ♖ fanfiction tropes
{ total word count: 1001 ▮ tropes used: oc fanfiction, college/high school au, human au, canon-divergent ]

“Oh, my mortal body has been wounded!”

Oliver clutched his side, collapsing to his knees with exaggerated breaths. He teetered back and forth before falling prostrate to the ground, eyes wide with terror. “A-aeshi…” he croaked. “Avenge me…”

Drystan sank to his knees beside his boyfriend, looking at Oliver with mortification. “NO!” he cried out dramatically. “I’m so sorry, Oli, I didn’t mean to hurt you, oh, please don’t leave me—“

Everine stood over the both of them on the ground, an unamused expression on her freckled face as she held a video camera in front of them. “Here lies Oliver Kayne, age nineteen,” she began to recite in deadpan. “Stabbed to death by an absolute idiot.”

“Why did I agree to letting you sign me up for this?” Aeshi groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. Fencing wasn’t any mere speciality of hers, nor one she was all too interested in getting into- the thought of holding sharp rapiers and waving them around didn’t sound appealing in the slightest.

Drystan’s head snapped up from his mourning position on the ground, a much more childish look replacing his previously sorrowful demeanor. “Because we’re your friends, of course, and you love us!” Shooting her an extra grin, he jabbed a thumb at himself and added, “Especially me.”

Before Aeshi could even begin to comprehend the idea of a retort towards her arrogant childhood friend, the main doors to the training classroom were thrown open, and the instructor strided into the classroom.

Dual plaits of royal purple swung behind her as she cut her way to the front and center of the room, a fencing sword strapped across her back. Drystan’s smug grin faded slightly as his attention flicked to the teacher, and Oliver sat up from his prostrate position on the floor.

She turned to meet the class with narrowed, amber eyes, before softening the sharp air around her with a smile. “Good day to you all. I’m Althea Orlan, your instructor for this course. Think of me as your…master.”

A brief chuckle ran throughout the room at that.

She picked up a clipboard that was propped on the clipboard, and began to call out various names.

“Everine Eldar.”
“Oliver Kayne.”
“Drystan…Tristan?”

Snickers went about the air. Aeshi sighed, looking off to the side. She should have seen this coming.

Drystan raised his hand, waving the attention over to him. As Althea focused her gaze on him, he leaned against Oliver’s shoulder. “In the flesh,” he announced with the smuggest grin Aeshi had ever seen from him.

Althea paused, eyebrows raised in amusement, before shaking her head and going onto the next name. She probably dealt with clowns like Drystan all the time.

“Aeshi Vandreen?”

Aeshi raised her hand at her turn, and Althea gave her an approving nod before going onto the next name.

Althea, overall, seemed like she would be an excellent teacher- or master. Aeshi liked her- she wasn’t all too scary, as well as sharp and able-minded to put up with Drystan and Oliver.

“Now that we’ve got that aside, let the lesson begin!” Althea tossed the clipboard to the side and removed her rapier from her shoulder. “You all aren’t ready enough to be using these, let alone not having the proper equipment and attire-“ she frowned at a student’s fur coat- “so we’ll be using some wooden sticks instead.”

Althea went on for a while about different fighting techniques and stances, showing all sorts of grips, parries, twirling her sword in all sorts of ways that made Aeshi’s stomach turn upside down when she envisioned herself doing that.

“And finally, we’ll have a real-life demonstration of some of these tactics!” Althea finished, snapping Aeshi out of her thoughts. “I’ve invited a student from the high school campus to help me showcase a few scenarios to you.”

Just then, the doors flew open again, and this time, two teenagers walked through. The shorter of the two reminded Aeshi of herself, timid, quiet, eyes darting over the place and her head tucked down. Her hand was clasped tightly in the hand of the other, who had a much more confident air to them. She had blue-streaked waves kept back by a green headband that matched her eyes, and white face-paint smeared on one side of their face.

“I didn’t realize you were bringing a visitor, Brook,” Althea said pointedly.

The girl with the headband- Brook- nodded. “This is my girlfriend, Eldira,” she introduced the blonde girl beside her. “I thought she could watch me do my thing, and she was interested in taking a peek at fencing anyways.”

Eldira took a seat near the corner where Aeshi and her friends were residing, her eyes scrutinizing the room. Aeshi gave her a friendly wave.

Brook, on the other hand, picked up a wooden stick and got into her stance. “This is going to be extremely fun,” she said with a large grin that Althea met.

— time skip because Luna is lazy xD —

“Your turn!” Althea announced. She walked throughout the classroom, handing sticks to everyone. “Pick a partner, and apply what you’ve learned from watching me in the lesson.” As she passed by their group, she raised her eyebrows at Drystan and Oliver and said, “Try not to poke each other’s eyes out.”

Aeshi stared in awe as Brooklyn took a seat beside Eldira, wiping her forehead smugly.

Turning to Everine, she whispered, “I can’t believe she’s five years younger than us. They’re so good.”

Everine shrugged. “Just means we have to do better.”

Aeshi grimaced in reply. She did not have a good feeling about this. “Want to partner up?” she offered with a pained expression.

“You think I want to pair up with one of them?” she retorted, pointing to Oliver and Drystan- who were currently trying to make “light swords” by decorating their sticks in little colorful lights. “Come on, Aeshi, show me what you got.”

Aeshi sighed. She was most definitely going to fail this class.

  ────────── ⚂

▻ part four ♗ swc fanfiction
{ total word count: 539 }

The tale begins on the Fourth of July, set in the year 2022. That fateful night, rather than work on the daily or grind the weekly, Luna and Zai had invited some of their friends to play board games. Nights and Pendragon had answered the call, agreed to congregate in a meeting area external to the SWC campsite, and so the games began.

They sat in a circle and went on playing an assortment of games into the night, snacking on crickets and jumping at the sound of thunderous fireworks being set off in the Thriller Rift. Pendragon in particular was enjoying Next Station: London, their favorite game- though something seemed to be rather off. As they connected lines of pink and blue to triangles and circles alike, there was something that felt…familiar. But they couldn’t seem to place it.

As Luna flipped over the next card to reveal a pentagon shape, Nights crunched on a handful of crickets and remarked, “You know, Pendragon sounds an awful lot like Pentagon.”

At that phrase, a vast amount of memories flooded into Pendragon’s brain, and they realized the reason behind the offset feelings they had been feeling all night. They stood up and announced with fervor, “My entire life has been a lie!”

Zai raised his eyebrows. “And here I was thinking I was good at hiding that I was your uncle? Clearly, that failed-“

“Wait, aren’t you and Pendragon, like, a week apart in ages?” Luna pointed out while taking a scoop of crickets from Nights’ jar.

Zai shrugged nonchalantly in response. “Adoption,” he stated.

Pendragon shook their head, astounded by the revelation they had just come to. “I’m a…pentagon,” they said breathlessly. “And I have siblings, long-lost siblings- three of them.”

“How’d you come to that conclusion?” Nights said amusedly.

“Holes in the plot armor?” Luna suggested.

Zai nodded. “Nope, Pentagon here is correct,” he said. “My parents are Pendragon’s parents, thus making me their uncle- I knew Triangle, Square, and Circle quite well, actually. However, after a series of unfortunate events a decade back, we were forced to separate the siblings, wipe their memories with some equipment from the Hacking Ring, and send them to different parts of the SWC multiverse.”

“Multiverse, as in the one I broke?” Luna interrupted with a grin.

“Moving on,” Zai continued, “Triangle, Square, and Circle were all thrown into different sessions of SWC, and you all have been moving in different timelines since.”

“There are so many logical errors with this statement-“ Nights began to protest, waving a fistful of crickets to exaggerate, only to be interrupted by Pendragon this time.

“So to be reunited with my siblings, I need to find a way to visit the prior sessions…” Pendragon mulled.

“Well,” Luna realized. “We have a few Fanfiction portals that we never used from last session. Zai unlocked them, but I never got around to customizing them- we could maybe adjust them to take us to previous sessions?”

And so, the rest of the night was spent this way. Sitting on the borders of the campsite, gathered around a card game, scheming their escape and a journey to reunite Pendragon’s long lost family.

This tale was going to be absolutely fantastic.

  ────────── ⚃

▻ author's note:

first weekly, and already in peak procrastination mode! fantastic :D it's actually been awhile since i've written fanfiction- so this was a big refresher for me, and it's surprising to see how much my skills have degraded. maybe i should get back into writing some fanfic xD

the first part was a blast- jinx is a character who blows me away by all means! i love her so much and i was really excited to explore all her different facets and nuances- though then came the problem of doing her justice xDxD doing someone as incredible as jinx justice isn't an easy feat, and while i can't be one to determine that verdict, it sure was fun to write! i loved pulling some quotes from the show )

second part- H A D E S T O W N :sparkle: i was debating what to do when hadestown came up on musical theatre playlist, and i figured it was perfect! i didn't do orpheus justice whatsoever, eurydice a little more so- while i wish i could have rewritten it, i unfortunately just didn't have the time. however, i did get an excuse to listen to doubt comes in on loop! ;D

the third part was undoubtebly the best part for me! this one is based off of a group of star wars ocs developed by me and several other of my scratch friends- it's a part of a roleplay that we've been at for over a year, and it's what brought us all together in the first place! i had such a good time just screwing the idea of quality/challenging writing and just getting into the familiar feel of these characters and their dynamics. also they cause so much chaos and i love them so much ahahah <3

fourth part SDLJSDFKJGJKL this was based off this one night where me, zai, nights, and pendragon were all playing board games, and somehow came up with this wild family tree of pendragon's long-lost shape siblings as well as zai being their uncle? i didn't get into any of the actual fun stuff in my swc fanfiction (apart from eating crickets) which i was honestly pretty sad about since i was pressed for time, but hopefully i get the opportunity to continue it in the future!

and finally, some credits/citations for all the resouces and people in my weekly! :D

▻ https://leagueoflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Jinx/Arcane (Official Jinx FandomWiki)
▻ https://www.reddit.com/r/arcane/comments/qtipij/character_analysis_jinxpowder/ (Jinx Character Analysis)
▻ https://open.spotify.com/track/1vmanLxFqqfhUs0oBGydmo?si=-O777F36SRai4phBp1iXnQ&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Adoubt%2520comes (Doubt Comes In - Hadestown)

▻ all characters in the first two parts of the weekly belong to arcane: league of legends, and hadestown. for the last part, all character credit goes to the respective people as well as the train game i do not understand! ;D
▻ credits to the owners of the characters for the third part of the weekly- rani for drystan, myself for aeshi, paige (@telianar) for everine, soki (@rey_venclaw) for eldira, aqua (@aquawrites/@fiercechaos) for brook, stingray (@whirlygig) for althea, and sara (@anqels) for oliver!
▻ pendragon/pentagon (@dragonspire99) for being the ✨ star ✨ of my swc fanfiction >:]
▻ zai (@polarbear_17) and nights (@theniqhtsfall) for existing and also being criminals by association to the pendragon fanfic :D also for encouraging me to eat crickets <33
▻ rani (@melovesushi) for bearing with me through the entire weekly AHAHA- working on weeklies together is very fun!
▻ sophie (@i_like_kotlc), leopard (@theleapingleopard), cd (@forestpanther), wild (@-wildclan-), starla (@pure-randomness) bookie (@bookie883322), leaf (@mynameisleafshine), and all of the other amazing horror campers for hyping me up to finish the weekly today! <33

main cabin daily #6 ♠ 07.06.22
[ 503 words ]

- i chose to use my own zodiac for today's daily, libra! :)

I am a book of broken, scattered pages.
Fragments of words, chopped up in all the wrong places, discordant in their harmonies.
Together, perhaps they’d form the melody-
But my heart did not string them together.

A second ticks by, and then a minute, an hour and a day, weeks and months and suddenly, years. Some pages are completely blank, smooth cream paper cast aside. Others are filled to the margins with tiny, smudged black lettering, like it couldn’t be written fast enough.

Most times, it’s just snippets. A sentence at the top, a phrase bottom left, maybe a paragraph if I’m lucky. But the rest is blank, cast aside.

My pages scatter through the wind, carrying with the breeze up, up, up and out of sight till they are all but specks, birds in a sky. Discoordinated, directionless, they are but a mere sight, till my whole life fades to one big blur of a vast, blue sky, smudged with white memories.

My papers are a part of the sky that makes my book, my book is a part of many books that lie on shelves and shelves of stories that are not mine. Flipping through the books, I see tens and hundreds and thousands of pages and words, some big and small, black and red and blue, all detailing and full. Not a blank page in sight.

They document their tales in bold, bright words, whereas mine is just forged from a faltering printer. Maybe my old books were filled with tales too, just as compact as theirs- but now they are loose, scattered to the winds. I am not one of these people now.

. . .

Contrary to my forgotten pages, my cover is a different story. I make it explode with fiery lights and staggering fireworks, sweeping across the front and all around the back. All energy goes into the brightest lights- leaving not much underneath them.

Which is why I ride on the backs of others’ stories. Me too, me too, me too, my most common phrases go. Agree, agree, agree. It makes it feel alive in a sense, a remedy to my wasted papers.

The world passes by, and I am wasted. I am nothing. A brightened cover to empty, structureless and sky-scattered pages beneath. Muddled into one, enormous blend of an atmosphere that feels terribly dull.

I can’t help but ponder on whether it’s all a facade. Am I a lone book of scatteredness amongst a hundred shining stars? Or are they the kind of liars I am? Do they fill their pages with empty falses, hoping to be seen as anything but not?

Perhaps they are smarter than I am, fueling their words with lies others will believe rather than putting it all out on the surfacetop. Is it possible we are all alone and together in our quest of facade, hiding feelings of shame and disappointment behind literature’s exaggerations?

Perhaps we all have scattered pages, drifting throughout imperfect realities.

▻ author's note:

this was a word vomit :0 but regardless, this daily was very interesting in my personal opinion! while they aren't the most accurate, i personally find horoscopes to be quite interesting <33

a thank you to birdi for allowing me to submit this a tad late- i had some major issues with service and wifi, and was unable to post it before the deadline!

that aside it is now time to ramble about the actual writing! i had a fun metaphor in here about scattered papers- it got somewhat butchered at the end as writing goes, but it's still a metaphor i liked a lot about scattered papers being lost in the winds. it relates a lot to feelings of relentless unproductivity funks that i can't seem to get out of, and how they make me feel in the grand scheme of things.

this was originally going to be a poem, but luna cannot write poetry quite just yet? so it turned into more of a prose format! i think the main think i'm learning from observing my writing is that i need to be more consistent with my endings in relation to the original theme- hopefully i can figure out some ways to improve upon that

word war proof post <33

Oh, how I have waited to write this.

I can give you a heads-up right here and now that the majority of this is pure satire- Rani and I came up with this as a joke during a sleepover of ours, but I suppose they’ve stuck. So we’re rolling with it!

For this daily, I will be discussing the marvelous sleeping habits of my favorite noodle-loving, dagger-wielding, mess of a bi panic so-called-super-spy, Adrian Darkshocker, from mine and Rani’s sci-fi/fantasy series United.

While there have been jokes and a few theories to the possibility about Adrian being an insomniac, he’s really just a light sleeper. Given his childhood, staying light on his feet is rooted into his core instincts. He’s the type to be able to function on nine hours, 5.23 hours, or 2 hours of sleep, and you’d never be able to tell the difference unless he told you. Most of the time.

One of the favorite (and canon) running jokes about Adri Menace here is his tendency to own a slightly disturbing amount of weapons. He’d keep them all around his room in case of an emergency- a few daggers strapped under the mattress, a couple throwing stars behind the pillows, and definitely a katana somewhere. Definitely a katana.

Which brings me to my final and most hilarious point- sleeping positions. Adrian chooses to sleep in a position that he knows will “protect” him against any possible attackers: Blanket pulled up to just under the nose (for optimum breathing, of course), laying flat on the mattress in case he needs to leap up quickly, no eye masks to block the way, and of course, arms tucked behind the pillow so he can whip out a dagger in a flash if needed. Very sensible.

And those are the wonderful sleeping habits and tendencies of Adrian Noodle Boy/Super Spy/Adri Menace’ Darkshocker, elder twin of five minutes and twenty-three seconds. he amount of inside jokes that no one apart from one other person will understand truly pains me. Thank you for coming to my TED talk!

▻ part one ♔ main informational article
{ total word count: 830 ▮ topic: fake crime }

This is a continuation of Starla (@pure-randomness)’s weekly, so I reccomend reading that before coming to this! I will link it at some point as I need to speedrun writing B)

A drastic discovery has been made by a few of our reporters, contradicting the report we made only a few hours ago. Earlier today, four teenagers were arrested for burning down a forest for unknown reasons: Cecil Hayden, Eileen Nimbus, Nyara Khatri, and Tarian Faye. The former two are known criminals in this universe, however, the latter two have not been registered on any of our systems- we are still working to identify where they came from.

It was revealed that this burning of the forest was nothing but a mere ruse. This crime was used to distract government officials from the generally heavily-guarded building located nearby, which was broken into by several of the other members of Hayden and Nimbus’ crew, as well as two teenagers we cannot identify either in our system- it is only proper to assume they are with Khatri and Faye. These four were identified not too long ago as Grayson Wren- notorious thief, Kaylee Diamond, and the other two referred to as “Ajax” and “Jasper.”

Wren, Diamond, Ajax, and Jasper (who are all teenagers, shockingly enough) broke into the building through the eastern corner, which was already the most vulnerable part of the building, and even more so with the loss of the guards who valiantly rushed to protect the forest. While we cannot determine where they went about in the building, we can confirm that they exited the building the same way. Officials are working to determine exactly how much they stole or wrecked- although it has been reported that a top secret file was stolen already.

Investigators have also found five children, all younger than the criminals, who are theorized to be acquianted and/or associated with the group of eight. Reporters are currently interviewing these children.

“You’re going to have to be more specific on which crime you’re talking about,” says Azure, age twelve, with what can only be described as a knowing smirk.

“Please, please, I’m innocent!” Cedar, age unknown, begs on his knees. “They’re all insane!”

It has just come to the news’ attention of another crime that has been commited by what has been identified as notorious criminals, Ellie Nimbus, sister to Eileen Nimbus, and her comrades Xena, Ruth, and Peony, all of whom are Marked. Ellie is a specialiser in lightning manipulation, Xena has the powers of necromancy, Peony has what can only be described as “Cupid” and Ruth possesses the powers of the wind.

Hayden, Wren, and Diamond are all Marked as well- with powers of pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, and technopathy respectively. Eileen Nimbus does have a mark, but as far as we can tell, her powers are subtle to none. Another concern that has been brought up are the powers of these four unidentified teenagers, Nyara, Ajax, Jasper, and Tarian- do they have any powers of their own? How endangered are we by their presence?

Regardless, the custody we had over them is now reported to be gone. Ellie Nimbus and her comrades Xena, Peony, and Ruth have broken Cecil, Grayson, Nyara and Tarian all out of jail, and have disappeared to unknown regions. But here is what we do know:

Hayden, Wren, the Nimbus sisters (Ellie and Eileen), Diamond, Xena, Ruth, and Peony are all Marked, with powers we are mostly aware of, as well as already notorious criminals who rebel against our government.

Nyara Khatri, Tarian Faye, Ajax and Jasper are all unidentified beings whom we don’t know how they got to this world. We do not know of what powers they possess, but it is correct to label them as “dangerous.”

Cecil Hayden, Eileen Nimbus, Nyara Khatri and Tarian Faye burned down one of our most well-protected forests in the city. But this was only a ruse to cover up the true crime, the stealing of a top secret file within the government building. While they were being arrested, Ajax, Jasper, Kaylee and Grayson broke in and stole the file and escaped the same way. And while we had discovered that they committed this notorious crime, Ellie Nimbus, Xena, Peony, and Ruth broke them out of prison (similar to the way Xena, who was formerly imprisoned) was broken out as well. They are all on the run, however, it will not be long until we find them.

Our only leads as of now are the children who are theorized to be acquainted with the crew, who all identify as Cedar, Azure, Griffin, Austin, and Forrest. They all apper to be children, although we are unaware as to where they came from as well. We put out a warning for all citizens to be cautious, and report to your nearest government official if you spot any of these teenagers. Despite their young age, they are notorious criminals, and are to be feared.

  ────────── ⚀

▻ part two ♕ main opinion article
{ total word count: 828 ▮ topic: book/movie review }

For this section of my weekly, I will be reviewing Marvel’s newly produced movie, and the fourth installement in the Thor film series: Love and Thunder. It was released June 8th, 2022, and has been very popular since its release.

The plot itself centers around Thor and Jane, who are recently reunited, teaming up with Korg and Valkyrie (who were introduced in the previous movie, Ragnarok) on a quest to stop Gor, who is trying to get to an entity at the center of the universe and wish the extinction of all gods. Post-Endgame, Thor has been roaming the galaxy with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Korg, Valkyrie has been running the city of New Asgard, and Jane has been battling cancer.

Overall, I found the movie to be generally mediocre! They had good moments and good issues, but as a whole was an enjoyable movie. I’ll be focusing on a few aspects in my review: humor, plot, characters, and cinematography.

In regards to humor, Marvel Cinematic Universe has generally had a very “hit-or-miss” sense of humor. While I do think it was generally a hit in this round, there were certainly a few points where it felt forced or unnatural. The humor in each Thor movie increases by each one, and this was certainly the funniest. It was a movie that kept the viewer engaged and laughing as well- especially in the video montages that were meant to depict the past events of previous movies. In total, the movie had great humor- a tad overdone in places, but overall very swell!

Keeping with the mediocre theme, the characters were fairly well developed as well. Thor had an arc of accepting love, learning to let go, and no longer keeping people at arms’ length, and Jane had her cancer arc and becoming the Mighty Thor (as well sacrificing herself). Valkyrie and Korg did not get much change or development, but were consistent and loveable characters throughout the movie. The only thing that disappointed me here was the slight aspects of queerbaiting with Valkyrie and Korg- but overall, all characters were loveable and a joy to see once again on screen.

I think that Jane definitely had the best development this season. While she was generally the scientist/voice of reason, we saw her turning to magic and becoming a much more desperate person to stay independent and fighting against her stage four cancer. She grew from a side character to much more of a main character, and I definitely enjoyed seeing more of her screen time. While her passing is sad at the end, I think they did her character justice in this film.

Two other characters to focus on are Gor and Love, the main villain and his daughter. In my personal opinion, Gor’s look was a complete ripoff of Moon Knight- did you see the cloak? But that aside, his character was fairly fleshed out. I wish we had gotten more on where they had lived and where it was in relation to the rest of the MCU and in the timeline, but they did well with fleshing out his character and motivations, albeit falling into several villain stereotypes. Love, Gor’s daughter and Thor’s adopted daughter/niece, is affectionately enough, played by Chris Hemsworth’s (Thor) daughter, India Rose. While she didn’t have much screen time, I loved the bond that the characters share on (and off) screen. I hope to see Love in future Thor movies and get more development.

Moving onto the plot, the plot continues to fall into said mediocre category. The plot flowed well, minus a few confusing/unnessecary parts, and had a nice balance between lighthearted and intense. However, there was nothing to hold high stakes to the movie- apart from Jane’s death, there weren’t any high stakes that kept the plot compelling. The two highlights of the plot for me were Korg and Valkyrie’s almost deaths- I believe I had a miniature heart failure when Val was stabbed. While I do love them dearly and am glad they lived, I do wish that one of them would have died (possibly Korg- they could have pulled the smoothest death with him I believe.) Having characters die and then not die is a commonly overused trope, and to finally spend it on Jane didn’t have as hard of an impact as she was’t as positively met by fans. While she will be missed, I don’t think it had as much of an impact as Val or Korg dying, and was much more predictable.

And finally, the cinematography! The CGI was fairly well done. There were a few stunts with Thor flipping or large jumps and whatnot that felt unnatural and ruined the effect, although the exaggeration might have just been for humor purposes.

In total, I think this was one of MCU’s more mediocre movies- Ragnarok is always superior. I would give this movie an 8/10, and would recommend it regardless!

  ────────── ⚁

▻ part three ♖ column
{ total word count: 519 ▮ topic: advice column }

“can colors have phobias? for reference, my friend always tells me about the vivid green and red lights in traffic lights, but they all just have a reddish-brown tint for me. is the green running away from me? is it infecting my friends eyes? how soon do i need to get them medical attention, today or last year?” - @theniqhtsfall

You need to ask yourself: is the color afraid of you, or are you afraid of the colors? There’s absolutely no shame in admitting that you have a fear of the color green. You might want to consider doing more research on Eoogle about color fears, as well as look into possible support groups within your community or even consider receiving treatment. The treatment is admittedly rather fearsome- it involves staring directly at your feared color for multiple hours straight. But if you feel like you can handle this, by all means, conquer your fears.

“what is the fastest way to harvest cheese on the moon?” - @theniqhtsfall

The key to harvesting cheese from the moon is to know that the most gooey, quality cheese lies in the most moisture-filled areas of the moon. In other words, the crater. You can find Moonlit’s Moon-Cheese Excavating Tube For Ultimate Quality Moon Cheese on Amazon for three thousand dollars and ninety-two point five cents! It comes with an instruction manual, but unfortunately no replaceable batteries.

“what color coffin should i get, hot pink or neon blue and why? i would also like a list of novelty items that could potentially be propelled out of my coffin during my wake” - @theniqhtsfall

Honestly, Nights, it depends on what kind of legacy you want to leave on the world. Hot pink embodies grace, flamingos, shrimp, and that random can of spray paint lying in someone’s garage. Neon blue is more neon, glowy, like stars coming down to scoop you from the sky and toss you into the ocean of salty, more blue water (considering it’s not brown with dirt). I would go personally with a neon green, which is the color of energy and life. As for materials that could be propelled out of your coffin, here is a generic list (not only pertaining to these items as the universe is unpredictable):
~ flaming mangoes
~ crickets
~ whipped cream
~ broken piano keys
I hope this helps you!

“WHY IS THRILLER THE BEST CABIN ✨” - @MoonlitSeas

The answer to this question is actually quite obvious: Thriller does not exist. There are fifteen cabins in SWC: Adventure, Dystopian, Myth, Sci-Fi, Hi-Fi, Horror, Script, Non-Fi, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Mystery, Poetry, Real-Fi, Script, and Contemporary. Thriller does not exist in SWC, sadly- however, the thriller genre is generally defined as anything filled with suspense or thrill. The closest genre to this that provides that would be horror! Horror is filled with suspense and jump-scares and moments that leave people leaping out of their skin. Horror is undoubtedly the superior genre, and unequivocally the best cabin in Scratch Writing Camp.

“WHY DO WE NEED TRIG?” @MoonlitSeas

This is a question I have admittedly wondered about myself, too. You are clearly a very inquisitive person, Moonlit. Upon much pondering, I have come to a prospective scenario that could explain the necessity of trigonometry in our world: Perhaps one day you get trapped a ways down away in a moonlit cavern or a volcano, and you’re equipped with nothing but a very tall ruler, a rope, and a protractor. You can’t climb up with your bare hands, and the ruler will snap if you try to use it to climb out. Hence, by using the ruler, the protractor, and writing equations in the dirt with a stick, you can use trigonometry to calculate the length of the rope needed to escape the volcano/moonlit cavern! I hope this educated you on the importances of trigonometry.

  ────────── ⚂

▻ part four ♗ other
{ total word count: 664 ▮ topic: horoscopes }

I wasn’t entirely sure how to go about writing these, so I just paired each zodiac with a character and wrote a scenario for each one!

Aries: Prepare yourself, Aries. Today will be filled with mistakes, failures and slip-ups alike. However, perhaps you can make the most of the day by letting it all pass over your head and staying unfazed. Remember to focus on what is within your control and not let the full gravity of a situation overwhelm you.

Taurus: Today, you can take a breath and relax for once. Perhaps you’ve been moving at a hundred miles per hour, whizzing through your own tasks and responsibilities without having any time to indulge in others. You’ll find yourself relaxed for once and with less to do, and may feel in the mood to let loose with a friend. Seize that opportunity, Taurus!

Gemini: Today is a good day to be a recluse, Gemini. You’ll find that you thrive best in independence today, and that the people surrounding you will only pose a distraction or hindrance for today’s goals. Spend some quality time with you and yourself, and stop honing in on others as much.

Cancer: Careful, Cancer- you’ll want to be watching out for just about everything today. From slippery floors to potential tripwires (depending on how sketchy your surroundings are), everything will want to try and make you stumble today. Be sure to keep your balance… you never know when something bad might happen.

Leo: Today will be a day to rue, for it will be filled with pranks and mischief alike! You’ll find yourself the master of pulling tricks on others, but be careful to not accidentally hurt them in the process; or you may find yourself to be the target instead, Leo. Make sure that everyone involved will have fun in the capers pulled!

Virgo: Perhaps it’s time to finally take your eyes off the screen, Virgo. Get your hands off that keyboard and do your eyes some good and enjoy a non-screen related activity. Maybe hang out with a friend in real life or go for a walk in the park. Either way, you could do some good not slumped in front of that laptop 24/7.

Libra: Libra, it is time to stop procrastinating. You need to stop skiving off your duties, sit down, and do what you need to do. Perhaps you feel drained, but you’re not going to feel better until you get these out of the way- no matter how long it takes you.

Scorpio: Beware the shore today, Scorpio. Scorpions and other sea creatures may not like you today. If you’re planning to visit the beach or water, you may want to put your plans off to another day. And if you live on the coast, well then…

Sagittarius: Today, your energy will be thriving. You might find yourself motivated to create an artistic masterpiece, or go around and do all the things you’ve been meaning to do but never got around to. Either way, you’ll find this to be a very productive day- take this as an opportunity to pursue your passions without any obstacles.

Capricorn: Today is going to be an emotional roller coaster ride for your relationships, Capricorn. You might find them being questioned, broken, or pushed to the limits. But as you consider what to do with your relationships, ask yourself: you know how much they mean to you… but how much do you mean to them?

Aquarius: Aquarius, your life may feel like a stream of negativity or dullness, but all of that is about to change with someone’s presence in your life. While it may come disguised as something else, try and keep an open mind with people today. They might be better for you than you think.

Pisces: Today, you will find a lot of pieces, Pisces! Maybe you’ll finally solve a long-theorized problem, figure out the mystery of a book before you finish it, or maybe break a lamp and put it back together again! Either way, be on the lookout for all sorts of little pieces scattered throughout life today.

  ────────── ⚃

Fantasy (Main Cabin Weekly):

▻ part one ♔ high fantasy and worldbuilding
{ total word count: 000 ▮ connections of elements: 000 ▮ short story: 000 }

• A world divided into multiple factions/groups
• Built around a mountain(s)
• Frigid temperatures
• Impending avalanche or frequent ones
• Four mountains surrounding one super big mountain which is like their central/middle ground
• Deities that control/influence each of the four factions
• Central ground is unruled, similar to a community square/also a place where official meetings can happen
• Each of the four factions has a symbol based on a celestial body (sun, moon, stars, planet)
• The mountain ranges are connected by silver bridges
• Each faction values a different quality (cunning, strength, versatility, loyalty)
• Factions used to live as a whole on the central mountain, but when it became too overpopulated they began to separate to different mountains.
• Myths of deities were formed, but never confirmed; cultures formed around them
• Heat is very difficult to come by, as well as natural plants and not-meat food
• Artificial crops, along with other artificial materials
• Each faction has a wellspring of power based on energy from their celestial body
• Soft magic system
• Magic is aura-based, has the appearance of gentle, different colored lights
• Central mountain is a city of silver
• Deities organizing/forming a war between the factions behind the scenes
• Conspiracy theorist, not taken seriously group working to reunite the population from paranoia of war

Stemming from the Greek word for division, the Diaresi Mountain Ranges have built a community of their own, high up on their peaks. The people of the Diaresi Mountains are divided into four factions, each of which have their own mountains- these four mountains are connected by large silver bridges, which all in turn lead to the Apex, or the central mountain in the range. It’s both the largest mountain and the land of middle ground for the four factions.

Each faction has their own name, deity their culture revolves around, and a celestial symbol. The northern mountain hosts the group of Expynos, marked by the moon, whose god values cunning and wisdom. Pistos, marked by the sun, respects the quality of loyalty, as that is what their goddess represents. Dynami, marked by the planets, focuses on strength, and Arketa, signified by the stars, worships the goddess of versatility.

On each mountain is a Celestial Pool- this is a gathering, or a wellspring of celestial energy, varying between each faction’s symbol. It’s a rather abstract sense of magic that can be learnt, and capabilities vary from person to person depending on their auras. These pools are theorized to be provided by the deities.

The deities watch from the heavens, pulling the strings of the factions from behind the scene. Little to the knowledge of the society, their endgame is to cause war between the factions. The only people who appear to be on their tale is a group of conspiracy theorists who have never been taken seriously by anyone in the ranges.

. . .

The deities are watching us. I can feel it.

I always thought I was the only one who was terrified, fearful of the deities watching our every step. That they were observing us, noting us, bringing ideas so that they could crush us underneath their fists of godly power. That was, till I met the Tradis- a group of like-minded people that were similar to me. I’ve been with them for a while now. They have strong beliefs that the deities are plotting to pit our already broken world against each other even further in all-out war. That is why we work to stop the deities, to convince all of the Diaresi Mountain Range to unite before it is far too late.

I hail from the mountaintops of Arketa, as my lineage traces back on that peak for generations back. Our goddess, who goes by the same name that dons our culture, is the queen of the stars, the master of having many skills and utilizing them to her command. The legend of versatility. I’ve strived to build my own arsenal of talents as well- wit, weaponry, chemistry. Not all have worked out as planned, but I strived to make Arketa proud.

But there was one thing I’d been lacking. From the story of mystics, the whirlpool of energy located in our mountain- the Celestial Pool. I desired to draw my own energy, to learn the ways of wielding such powerful and useful energy. That would lead me to be invincible, worthy of all. I set out on a quest to find the Celestial Pool. It took several long, arduous months, but when I arrived at my destination, I came to a fate far more unexpected.

When I tried to draw the power from the pool, I did not experience what I had in the stories of old. I did not feel my aura brighten, my spirit cleansed, my vision widened. I felt heavy. I felt corrupt. Not heavenly, but rather vicious, pointed.

This is where my suspicions have all stemmed from, and how I came to join the Tradis. I stumbled upon one of their members and learned the truth of their ways, becoming a part of their crew and fighting with my arsenal that I had once wished to use to please Arketa to instead take her down. And today, our plan will finally be taken to action, when we bring the Diaresi Mountaineers to the Apex and show them the truth of the deities.


▻ part two ♕ magical realism
{ total word count: 000 }

For this section of the weekly, I’m using one of the very first and most notable worlds I’ve ever crafted- and never actually finished crafting. My friend Rani (@melovesushi) and I have been working on our series United for about two years now, but never got around to finishing worldbuilding.

// What kind of magic is used in your world? //
The type of magic used in the world where Zayden City is located is the ability of manipulating the elements. There are six main elements this power revolves around: Fire (pyrokinesis), Water (hydro/cryokinesis), Nature (geo/aerokinesis), Electricity (electrokinesis), Darkness (umbrakinesis), and Light (photokinesis). Water Elementals can manipulate both water and ice, whereas Nature Elementals are divided into two sub-classes- manipulating Air and Earth. Sometimes, it’s determined by your own abilities, whereas other times, one may be given the choice on which to focus on. While the element one controls is dominantly genetic-based, it varies based on the qualities of the individual as well.

// How is the magic in the world used in the character’s everyday lives? What are the different abilities? //
There are six different abilities- manipulating fire, water, nature, light, and darkness. Manipulation of ice and steam does fall under manipulating ice, and nature manipulation is divided into the two sub-classes of earth and air manipulation- however, plant manipulation (chlorokinesis) is a uniform power all Nature Elementals posess. Elemental manipulation is used in everyday life as if it were no different than technology; it is used to advance the progression and success of the world, as well as used in day-to-day activities.

// How common is magic, and are all characters aware they possess it? //
Elemental manipulation is extremely common, if not standard; given the genetic structure of the people of this world, it wouldn’t be physically possible to survive without having that power. Their bodies are filled with extreme amounts of energy which are channeled out through their manipulation- their bodies would be overloaded without a way to exert all that excess energy. All characters and members of the society are aware of their elemental abilities- they usually discover their elemental abilities around a young age, usually within the first decade of their life; however, their sub-class (if a Nature Elemental) isn’t determined till several years later.

// How is magic viewed in your world (ie. as a boring normal, as a fascinating element of their life, or as a curse on society etc.)? //
Elemental manipulation is viewed as what the question defines as “boring normal.” It’s a custom, a standard, a way of life and a necessity to physical survival. Everyone is given the same amount of power- the difference is the individual’s personal strength and their way of wielding it. Of course, there are a variety of powers, but none of them are held in particular stigmas. The view and opinion of elemental manipulation and various elements would vary to the character as an individual in the end.

// What is the origin of your magic? //
The grounds of their elemental manipulation comes from the elements themselves, naturally. Originally, we considered something such as a nexus or bracelet of sorts that elemental power could be pulled and stored from (places like this might still exist, depending on worldbuilding outcomes), but in the end, elemental magic’s source is from the elements. Fire is pulled from the heat in the air, air is formed from oxygen, earth comes from the ground, water and ice are forged from the water particles in the air, light comes from- well, light, and darkness is everywhere light isn’t, or as we’ve been calling it, the void. (That will probably come into play later on smirk)

// What are the limitations of your world’s magic? //
In terms of physical limitations, everyone has their own restraints and restrictions depending on the skill and ability of the individual. Moreover, they are not protected from their own element- Fire Elementals can be burnt. Electric Elementals can be shocked. So on and so forth. In regards to political limitations, on the other hand- there are laws set in place to control powers, as the government works, but it is not too heavily enforced, leaving a lot of room for people to get away with nefarious deeds. One of the key restraints is that changing your power or element is impossible- at least, till our plot comes in.

// How can your world’s magic aid character development? //
The magic of elemental manipulation is treated as a standard, or an expectation of the world. The character’s own opinions or feelings on that, as well as their own abilities, could progress their development. One could despise the element they were given (such as Adrian), be terrified by the standards that come with it (such as Ivy), or be content with their element but disappointed in their own skill of wielding it (such as Nisha). It could be used for a variety of internal and external conflicts.

// Compared to our modern society, what do the characters do differently in your world, now that magic is incorporated? //
Both the ease and difficulty of things are increased, in regards to a modern society. A large variety of mundane, day-to-day tasks are likely far more easier to complete, such as regulating the temperature of a dish or bringing something towards you without getting up from where you are. On a larger scale, it also equips the individual with their own personal arsenal, as well as the tools needed for survival- for instance, if one was trapped in the woods, it’d be easy to start a fire, build a shelter, or fetch water. However, there’d also be an increase in danger, as everyone is equipped with advanced powers, which as always are wielded to the liking of the individual.

// How can you ensure the magic in your story is realistic, and is written as a normalized part of your world? //
From my perspective, or what I’ve noticed in the various media I’ve been exposed to, normalizing something generally means not making a big deal about it. In books such as Keeper of the Lost Cities or Harry Potter, their magical powers and abilities had to be explained throughout the book. The fact that they had to constantly point things out is what made them so prominent and special. However, with something such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, rather than explaining how powers worked, they just were; and the viewers were there to figure out how it all worked on their own. This is the type of normalization that we’re going for in United.

// Are there any sensations the characters feel when they are using magic? Describe these sensations using their five senses. //
When using their magic, there would probably be some sort of physical sensation when wielding it. I doubt you could taste fire- but the smells of ash, the feeling of heat searing your skin, seeing flames lick up and down your arms. In regards to water, it’d probably feel extremely cold and smooth- if coming from the ocean, it could smell salty as well. Nature would bring the smell of earthy scents of nature. You could hear the air howling in your ears. Electricity- you’d be able to see it crackle in your palms, feel it shock you and energize you. As for light and darkness- there wouldn’t be any physical feeling to them. No smells, no tastes, no sounds- not unless you count hearing them slice through the air towards a target. That’s what makes them two of the hardest elements to wield.

▻ part three ♕ subgenres of fantasy
{ total word count: 000 }

<< Urban Fantasy >>

“Adri, get down!”

At the sound of a halting voice, Adrian knelt to the ground just in time as a rattling crash sounded over him. The sounds of rubble crumbled around him, sprinkling atop his hair and on the ground. Glancing up, he cleared his throat— and the air— to face his mirror.

The sound of blaring police sirens, which usually would have been a noise of panic to both twins, was rendered irrelevant as the two faced each other in the open street. Nolan, who had called out the warning to Adrian, was being restrained by one of Lixue’s henchmen- or maybe it was Jason. Most likely Jason. He couldn’t tell them apart at this point.

Smirking, Max began to form another bolt of pure blackness between his palms. Adrian sucked in a breath, letting orange sparks flick from his fingertips. With Nolan held hostage by the guard, even the slightest movement from either of the brothers could trigger the signal to hurt Nolan- or worse, silence him. Adrian was hesitant on how to act- with Nolan’s life in the balance, the stakes had increased far more than Adrian’s risks could handle.

Thankfully, Adrian didn’t have to make the decision. A deep crimson hoverbike came whizzing into view, stopping dead center between him and Max, and cutting Max and the guard off simultaneously.

“Took you four long enough,” Adrian snarked as Celeste threw up a shield of pulsing, pale yellow light.

“Well excuse us for thinking you of all people would have the situation under control,” Lily remarked, aiming a hydro-arrow at the guard. “Hop in- catch a breath. You’re not your strongest against Max, anyways. Ember will handle the rest.”

The dark-haired girl beside smirked, and leaped out of the hoverbike, charging towards Nolan with a quite literally flaming fist. Adrian rolled his eyes and climbed in the backseat as Ivy took the driver’s seat.

“I didn’t know Ember was the only one who could drive,” Adrian asked skeptically.

“And I didn’t know our super spy was unable to fight,” Ivy replied back. Adrian was taken aback- he didn’t expect the most kindhearted and gentle of them all to be insulting Adrian. That should have come from Ember’s mouth. Perhaps they were spending too much time together- Zayden City did that to a person.

<< Dystopian Fantasy >>

Nyara paced back and forth, combat boots tapping against the sleek, tiled grounds. Arms crossed, she sighed defeatedly and stared at the group. “Well, any ideas?” she questioned.

The group shook their head collectively.

Nyara groaned again and resumed her pacing. Think, Nyara, Think. There had to be a way to get Ezri back from the clutches of the Triad- and Jasper.

“Are we sure we have to get her back?” Tarian questioned. “I mean, I understand they’re important, but come on- it’s Jasper. We can’t just turn against xem. He’s like our brother.”

“And he betrayed us,” Ajax pointed out. “He’s always been like this- even back in Inerys when we were apart of the Saviours. Before any of this had happened with the Z-Axis, he was always power-hungry.”

“Because I kept showing him up,” Nyara scoffed. “It’s not my fault xe was an incompetent leader for us. If it weren’t for him, we probably wouldn’t be in Kayzx in the first place.”

“Plus, we need to get Jasper to get home,” Ajax stated. Nyara paused her pacing and looked at him.

“Come again?” she inquired.

“The four shards of the Z-Axis machine, remember?” Ajax held up the fragment on his neck, metallic blue and shimmering with hits of red, green, and gold. We need to bring them all together. Then I should be able to fix the machine.”

A voice cleared their throat rather abruptly, diverting the three teenagers’ attention. Flicking their blond braid over their shoulder, Rylin leaned forward in their seat and placed their elbows on their knees. “This Jasper Ionadi, from what I’ve heard from you and the Zixins before they vanished, is a rather masterful young man in the arts of fighting. And he’s driven very heavily, too. What makes you think you can stop him?”

<< Hidden Worlds >>

“Take a look behind you, and tell me what you see.”

I turned around, and gasped- what had once been the bustling nighttime scenery of Madrid was now silent, empty. Every table was empty, every light flickering. The birds weren’t chirping, the mosquitoes weren’t buzzing. It was the two of us, and the silence of the city.

And yet- I could see something more. Golden tendrils peeking from the dark, sleek mahogany tables, little emerald green wisps floating from the night sky. They danced in the air, like magic that I’ve never seen before.

“Welcome to the dimension of Raisa,” Serif said. Flicking their short dreadlocks over their shoulder, they beckoned me to follow them. We strolled through the empty streets, the streetlights flickering on and off awkwardly.

“You know, I’d think your world would have a tad more people than just… you,” I pointed out, gesturing to the lifeless scenery.

Serif chuckled. This is the Gateway- a bridge between your world and ours. It has qualities of them both; your city, Madrid, and these golden and green tendrils you see everywhere? That’s Raisan magic.

“Raisan magic,” I echoed breathlessly.

Leading me to the fountain in the heart and center of the square, they stepped into the fountain hesitantly. Walking towards the porcelain statue in the center, they leaned down and stuck their hand through the waterfall- then their arm. Then they stepped all the way through, and they completely vanished, leaving me entirely and utterly alone.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Serif’s voice bounced around playfully, beckoning me to come in. I gulped, placing a hand on the cream stone edge of the fountain as I put a leg in. I winced as the ice cold water lapped against my ankle, but I proceeded to put my other leg in anyways and wade deeper into the fountain, past the waterfall, and into the world beyond.

SusWC (Main Cabin Weekly):

Credits to Rani (@melovesushi) for Drystan Tristan and fellow co-conspirator in the creation of his Padawan, Kaz Ekaris, to Sara (@__wanda__) for Oliver Kayne, Soki (@Rey_venclaw) for Eldira Cann, Paige (@Telianar) for Everine Eldar, Aqua (@fiercechaos) for Brooklyn Sarlo, Stingray (@Whirlygig) for Althea Orlan, and all six of them for Felrin Wren! >

Felrin: The Uprising

“WHO THE FORCE IS CALLING ME AT THIS HOUR?”

Drystan smashed the phone up to his ear with one hand, taking a large sip of his brew with the other. On the other end of the room, Kaz, his Padawan, glanced up from the holotable and stated rather bluntly: “It’s the literal middle of the day, Master.”

Drystan blinked a few times, before placing his drink down on the countertop and waving his arm carelessly. “Shut it, Padawan.” Drystan, Kaz, and the rest of their friends had decided to take a day off, relaxing and killing the time however they pleased. The kids- Kaz, Skyler, Brook, and Eldira- were all playing a game on the holotable, Aeshi was reading a book in the corner while snacking on a GranYoda Bar, and Oliver and Althea were discussing sports at the table. It was meant to be a day of complete bliss and no work whatsoever!

And here Stryken was, bothering Drystan again with what was probably yet another mission. He really should stop answering calls with that phrase- but in his defense, the brew made it harder to think! And he didn’t like thinking in the first place.

However, when the voice came in on the other end, it was not who Drystan had been expecting.

“Drystan? Is that you? It’s Everine, Everine Eldar, from Mandalore. I wasn’t entirely sure where else to go, but… Clan Eldar needs the Jedi.”

This man is an idiot.
The second his ever-overdramatic Master had begun screaming into the phone, Kaz knew exactly where the conversaton would be going. Skyler seemed to as well, as they gave Kaz a sideways glance and raised their eyebrows. “Another mission?” they questioned.

“Most likely,” Kaz agreed with an eye roll. “Stryken loves to give us every little thing.” Glancing over at Drystan, he noticed his Master had become rather… subdued. His expression was slack, and he almost looked… serious? That couldn’t be right.

Slipping his hand out of Skyler’s, he muttered, “I’ll be back in a moment,” and made his way over to Drystan.

What did he screw up this time?

Taking the phone right out from Drystan’s dumbstruck nose, Kaz pressed the holophone to his ear. “Forgive me- my Master must have had too much brew,” he said, putting on a polite tone as he shot Drystan a glare. Speaking had never rather been his thing- talking on the phone was easier though. “He appears to be rather out of it. How can we be of assistance?”

“You’re his Padawan, right?” the voice on the other end sounded steady, but rather concerned. “Kaz, or something along those lines. I’ve heard all about you.”

Kaz scoffed. That sounded exactly like something Drystan would do- he could never hold his tongue. But before he could make a retort, the girl on the other end of the phone continued to talk. “Either way, I need the help of Drystan and the rest of them- Aeshi, Althea, Brook and El, all of them. Tell them Felrin’s back, and that we need them at Mandalore as soon as possible. And hurry- please.” She ended the call rather abruptly.

Drystan snatched the phone back out of his hands, trying to talk to the girl who had hung up. “Hello? Hellooo? Everine? Where did she go…”

At the name of Everine, Eldira perked up, as did Brook. “Did you say Everine?” Brook called out.

That snapped Althea out of her conversation and brought Aeshi out of her book. The room was silent, and all eyes were on Kaz, which was not exactly an ideal situation. But apparently, they had been chosen for this mission- it hadn’t even come from the Council, it was directly from someone in help. Which meant they had to go help her.

“Who’s Felrin?” he questioned aloud to the group.

The atmosphere of the group seemed to stiffen.
Drystan clapped a hand on Kaz’s shoulder and said, “Let’s just say we have a nice, long, history.”

“Do we have to fly?” Drystan complained as they entered the airspace.

Kaz rolled his eyes, an unknowing smirk creeping onto his face. “For the last time, how else do you expect us to get to Mandalore?”

Aeshi popped up from behind them, brown braid tucked neatly over the side of her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Drystan,” she assured her comrade. “I brought your airsickness meds.”

Since Everine had called Drystan, they agreed he definitely had to go on the mission- as did Kaz. However, they didn’t want the mission to be a complete train wreck, so Aeshi had insisted on tagging along as well. Brook, Eldira, and Althea tried to come too, but that hadn’t worked out. It was a shame- he and Brook could have pulled stunts on Drystan together in lift-off. Regardless, everyone seemed to be particularly attached to this mission. He wondered why.

Kaz didn’t mind hyperspace or starships at all, but his Master most certainly did. It made flying all the more enjoyable- for the most part.

As they boarded the ship, Drystan groaned. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

(I used Soki (@Rey_venclaw)’s profile for inspiration! My character will be 15 years old and use she/they pronouns like them, and inspired from the quote on her profile “even chaos has architecture,” they’ll be an architect.)

The room may have been basked in shadows and stark cold, but Raisa’s mind was whirling at top speed and and fast at work. She dragged her finger through the air, altering different aspects of the holographic structure before her.

At that moment, the door flung open and a teenage girl clad in Mandalorian armor strode into the room. Her ginger hair was pulled into a tight bun, and her stormy gray eyes met Raisa’s brown ones.

“Rai,” Everine said, approaching the table and leaning against it. “How’s it going?”

Raisa sat up a tad straighter, brushing some of the dark curls of their hair out of the way to appear more presentable. “Oh, er- hey, Everine.“ They sighed, shaking her head. “Not very well.” Tapping a few more buttons, she pulled up a view of all the different structures she’d been working on. “I’ve been able to develop a hideout for us in case Felrin succeeds in taking headquarters over, and we need to seek refuge from him, but I can’t find a suitable location to build it. As for our defense…” they shifted the view of the structures, moving to a design of the building they were currently in. “Nothing. Apart from the warriors we have defending the gate and the ray shields, I don’t see anything else we can do to protect us.”

Raisa felt bad for letting Everine down so greatly, but there was nothing else she could do. Everine simply nodded, and made her way out of the room. Before she left, though, she glanced over her shoulder and commented at Raisa. “Keep working, Rai. I know you’ll be able to come up with something- it’s what you do. We’ll hold down the fort- we just have to make it until the Jedi arrive.”

Felrin Wren was not happy.

He paced back and forth, glancing up at the screen every so now and then. “I should be out there- not cooped up here in this stupid general’s quarters. I need to be out there, fighting!”

Stupid Clan Eldar and their stupid defenses. They had brought this completely on themselves- if they had just cooperated the last time when he kidnapped that stupid Jedi, Eida Coria- he wouldn’t have to be laying siege to a Clan of his own planet.

Felrin had further motives than just regaining the Darksaber back, though. He wanted to crush those who had dared to foil hom the first time around- that stupid, entitled wannabe warrior, Everine Eldar, as well as those five Jedi who she had summoned to help her- Vandreen, Tristan, Sarlo, Orlan, and… Cann, was it? He didn’t forget the names of the people who wronged him.

Surely, at the sight of Felrin’s menacing presence, the stupid Eldars had gone crying to the Jedi Order. Which meant they’d send the crew they had last time, which meant that Felrin would be able to defeat them for real this time. Especially that timid girl, Aeshi Vandreen, who had dared to best him in combat- a shaking little girl? Like her? Beat him? It was unacceptable. He would get revenge on her- on all of them.

“Are we there yet?”

Aeshi sat up from the starship’s bed, leaning over to check on Drystan, who had been planted in the bathroom for about half an hour. “Still some way to go, Drystan,” she replied.

“What’s wrong, Master?” Kaz’s voice called from the pilot’s seat, smugness cutting through his crisp accent. “You having any trouble back there?” The smirk could practically be heard.

Drystan groaned in reply. “Shut it, Kazzy. You know I can handle-“ his retort was cut off by the sound of hurling once again.

As Kaz chuckled at the head of the ship, Aeshi went back and resumed her book. She had to settle for the digital version on her holopad, since she didn’t want to risk bringing the original copy around an airsick Drystan, but it was a wondrous book nonetheless.

It was about this crew of people from all over the galaxy- a Jedi, a droid, a princess, a pilot, a wookie, all uniting together to take down a giant, evil lord who was trying to dominate the whole galaxy.

Aeshi’s favorite character was the princess, Elia. She had been captured by the evil lord, and was held hostage throughout the entire time, yet she hadn’t batted an eye in the face of an entire empire trying to kill her. She was fearless, and focused solely on her mission- she didn’t let herself or anyone else get in the way of what she needed to accomplish! Aeshi wanted to be like that.

Aeshi had been brave against Felrin last time. She had managed to fool him, even fight him- and win against him in combat! It had been one of the most terrifying moments of her life- and she needed to find the courage to do so again. If it were Elia in her place, she wouldn’t hesitate to lay a punch on Felrin’s face. She’d probably even drop some gruesome insult as well- something along the lines of “You stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy looking nerfherder!”

Aeshi didn’t have the courage to say something as bold as Elia. But maybe she could be fearless like her too.

The landing was somehow worse than the actual flight itself.

As they descended into the atmosphere of Mandalore, the air sickness medicine finally started to kick in. It couldn’t have kicked in a few hours ago? Drystan was finally able to emerge from the bathroom and plop in the co-pilot’s seat, ruffling Kaz’s hair as he did so for some extra pleasure.

“So, how’s it going, Kazzy Boy?” Drystan asked with a grin as Kaz puffed some of the hair out of his face.

“Just fine till you came along, mind you,” he retorted irritably, the teenager shooting him a sideways glare. “Navigation says the Clan Eldar headquarters isn’t too far away now. Say, care to share your history with-“

A large rattle to the side of the ship shook the entire room, sending an unpleasant feeling spinning in Drystan’s stomach.

“We’re under attack!” Aeshi yelped from the back. Drystan was going to give Kaz instructions on what to do, but he admittedly had no idea how ships worked. There were so many complicated buttons and levers…

Kaz seemed to have it partially under control. His expression was bewildered, but he looked focused to the point where he could evade attacks from whatever was shooting them easily enough.

“Clan Eldar loves to give quite the greeting,” Kaz said through gritted teeth as another shot hit the other side of the ship.

“It’s probably Felrin,” Aeshi pointed out, stumbling her way to the front. “Is the ship alright?”

Kaz nodded, keeping his eyes focused on the surroundings outside. “As far as I can tell, yes. Nothing appears to be damaged-“

A light above their heads began to flash bright red, a beeping noise coming from the ship’s controls. “Well, that can’t be good,” Drystan stated.

“Not good, not good,” Kaz repeated, much more frantic now. “The engines are failing!”

Drystan decided it might be a good idea to be useful now. Placing a palm on his Padawan’s arm, he said, “Breathe, Kazzy. C’mon. See anywhere we can safely land?”

If it weren’t for the feeling of nausea he got from looking at the ground, he probably would have helped Kaz search for an area to land the ship. “There,” Aeshi said, pointing somewhere out the window. “There’s the headquarters- try and land there! Maybe Everine can help us.”

“Buckle up, Master,” Kaz muttered under his breath. “You’re going to need a lot more of your medication.”

Kaz fiddled with a series of levers, and the ship began to tilt downwards, falling downwards at an alarmingly fast rate. The ship began to shake, jiggling them up and down in their seats. Aeshi fell backwards into the passenger seat.

“K-kaz- I- d-don’t like- t-this-“ Drystan groaned, bending over in his seat.

“Suck it up, Master, we’re almost there,” his Padawan replied curtly.

They arrived in what appeared to be the back of the headquarters in an extremely rough and painful fashion. The trio stumbled out of the ship, all groaning and clutching their heads.

“Where to now, Master?” Kaz asked, pulling his robes around him tightly.

Before either Drystan or Aeshi could come up with a reply, Drystan had a tingling sense creeping up his spine. He wasn’t exactly sure how or what or why, but he just had a feeling that they had to get out of the open. And he always trusted his instincts without a second thought.

He grabbed Aeshi by the arm and pushed her into the ship, and Kaz directly after.

Which on the off-chance turned out to be one of Drystan’s better decisions, because the headquarters proceeded to promptly blow up.

Kaz found himself shoved to the ground, crushed by the weight of his overprotective Master.

“Drystan? Aeshi? Eldira? Are you there?” Everine’s voice came in from Drystan’s wrist com, which Kaz could feel vibrating against his robes. “I think I see your ship. Come on out, hurry!”

“Get off me, Master,” Kaz grumbled as Drystan clambered off of him and pulled him up. They exited the ship once more, their senses much more alert than usual. “How did you even know that was going to happen, anyways?”

Drystan shrugged, with his usual falsely arrogant demeanor. “Guess it’s just my Force senses finally kicking in,” he replied with a dopey grin.

Kaz rolled his eyes and came face to face with a girl around the same age as him- maybe closer to Brook’s. She had dark red hair pulled into a bun, scorched beskar armor, and cool, grey eyes. “Drystan, Aeshi, it’s so good to see you,” she settled her eyes on Kaz. “Who’s this?”

Before Drystan could come up with a reply that would likely humiliate Kaz, Aeshi butted in with her sanity. “This is Kaz Ekaris, Drystan’s Padawan,” she stated with a knowing smile. “Kaz, meet Everine.”

Everine nodded. “We spoke on the phone.” Turning to Aeshi, she said, “We need to seek refuge somewhere. We had an architect working on some blueprints for an area, but I have no idea where she sent them; she died in the explosion-“

“Everine!” A voice called out from behind them. A person, definitely a tad younger than Kaz this time, came panting up behind them. Her brown curls were spread wild, and there were streaks of blood dotted across her coppery skin. “I was… looking… for you…” she panted.

“Rai?” Everine said, eyes wide. “You- you literally just fell down the shaft-“

“Caught onto a railing and made it out of the basement,” Rai replied breathlessly. Giving Kaz, Aeshi, and Drystan a once over, they said, “You must be the Jedi. Name’s Raisa- I have a refuge place we can hide out. Follow me- we can figure out a way to stop Felrin Wren there.”

The refuge was located a good ways away, far from the headquarters that had been out in the open. Located behind a lush forest, it was hidden quite well- especially considering it wasn’t finished yet.

“They’ve been building for hours on end,” Raisa explained. “But it’ll have to do for now.”

They entered the refuge, and Everine began to lead them down a stone hall with an open ceiling. Off to a great start, Aeshi thought to herself ruefully. Shot out of the sky by Felrin’s goons, now seeking refuge before even getting the details of the mission- did he know they were coming? What if he wanted them to come? What if he was going to-“

“You really should take a rest, Aeshi,” someone said. The group glanced up, and to their surprise, there were two girls in matching purple and blue jackets standing before them. The first one was dressed in a bright turquoise, contrasting the faded magenta streaks in her dark hair. The second one was much taller and clad in purple, with shorter black hair and the same dark eyes. She was resting her elbow atop the head of the first girl, who appeared to be rather used to this.

The one who had spoken, in turquoise, smirked and said, “You get way too anxious about things sometimes.”

“We’d know-“ Purple Girl added, “We made you!”

“You what?” Aeshi questioned, aghast.

“Point is,” Teal Girl continued, skipping over Aeshi’s question and clearly ignoring her panicked expression, “You need to take a rest. You defeated Felrin once- you can do it again. Sure, he might be a rage monster with narcissist issues, but you have the compassion, the smarts- you just need to keep calm. Don’t lose your head, kay? You’ve got this!” With that, Purple Girl tossed a bomb into the air, and they dissappeared in a poof of smoke.

“Aeshi? Aeshi. Hey. Aeeeeeeshi.”

Drystan was all up in her face, waving a finger between her eyes. She blinked, and promptly stepped back. “What- I-“

“Finally!” Drystan exclaimed, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “You were so out of it. It’s time to get started!”

Aeshi continued to blink in a haze of confusion. Did she… imagine that? Either way, there was no time to dwell on it.

“First things first,” Kaz said, clearing his throat. “Is someone going to finally catch me up on this history you all speak of?”

In the center of the room was a small, stone table, surrounded by a few wooden stools. Drystan hoisted himself up on one, and patted the one beside him for his younger counterpart to sit. Aeshi, Raisa, and Everine all took seats on the other side of the table.

“Alright, Kazzy,” he began, putting an arm around his Padawan (who promptly shrugged his arm off). “So, this is the tale of how the gang first all came together.”

“It all started with a Jedi named Eida Coria, who had been captured by none other than the evil dude, Felrin. Me and Aeshi had just become Jedi Knights, so this was our first mission, and we had been paired with Althea and Brook for experience.”

“So it was a rescue mission?” Kaz interjected.

Aeshi nodded. “Well, yes, it originally started out as that, but then it turned into a whole other thing when-“

“When we met Eldira!” Drystan butted in. “Don’t interrupt the storyteller. Shh. Anyways, once we landed in Mandalore, I was feeling kind of woozy, so Brook and Althea set out in the marketplace to find some information about Eida whilst Aeshi and I went to go find some airsickness meds for me. I needed them to keep my youthful glow. Me and Aeshi kind of got into some trouble-“

“Correction,” Aeshi interrupted. “You got into trouble. I had to get you out of it, and then Eldira had to get the both of us out of it.”

Kaz scoffed. “Why am I not surprised at that?”

Aeshi decided to take over the story, since Drystan likely had too large of a pride to tell this aspect of the story truthfully. “Moving along,” she said, “Drystan decided to ask some random stranger for some airsickness meds, who then promptly decided to corner us. I had to do some Jedi tricks to save us-“

“Which she was a beast with-“ Drystan jumped in with a grin.

“But in the end, we were saved by Eldira!” Aeshi exclaimed. “Eldira has that complicated Jedi story that we know the partial gist of- we’ll have to ask Brook for that at some point. The three of us decided to stick together, and while we were at all this, Brook and Althea got to meet Everine!”

“Hang on-“ Kaz interrupted. “I’m confused. Didn’t Brook and Eldira know each other since they were little?”

“Yeah!” Drystan took the story over again. “There was a whole big wholesome reunion and everything. It was super sweet. Once the whole gang was united, we learned the truth behind the reason Felrin kidnapped Eida- Eida was helping Clan Eldar, and Felrin wanted the Darksaber, so he kidnapped Eida. So, we came up with this whole plan to save Eida from Felrin’s claws…”

The story went on and on for a few hours, and by the time it had finished, Kaz was well bored out of his mind. Drystan could tell- the poor guy kept drifting in and out right there on the table!

“Maybe we should get some rest?” Aeshi suggested. “Get thinking tomorrow.”

Ew. Thinking.

“Yeah, my tiny Padawan here needs his rest,” Drystan agreed, rubbing Kaz’s back. “Kazzy Boy. Get up. You get to sleep now.”

Everine didn’t look all too pleased with the situation, but regardless, she nodded. “Very well. We’ll get to working tomorrow. But time is of the essence- I can’t have Felrin destroy our whole clan. We need you to do this- otherwise Clan Eldar might face demolition as we know it.”

The lore dump is all thanks to the HR gang (listed at the top) the amazing roleplay I’ve been lucky to be a part of this past year.