#touchofchallenge

[blancheharlow]

Banner by Ria <3

Updated Whispered Words Challenge

10 Secrets:

Blanche is a medium. 

People aware: AJ Ricci, Dustin Parrish, Quinn Mann, Marley Caplan, Rebecca Rothbad/Amnon

Granny is a poltergeist.

People aware: AJ Ricci, Reza and Rebecca are probably aware bc they are not dumb, 

Blanche highkey likes hawaiian pizza.

Blanche is in the running for valedictorian. 

People aware: Her parents, AJ, Lea (?), and Reed. Other than that she’s keeping it a secret in case she loses

A multi-dimensional angry ghost hunted Blanche and broke her leg

People aware: HSC (minus Lea), Rebecca, Marley. Blanche looked Amanda Hollis dead in the eye and told her that during physics when she asked, but she didn’t believe her (to Blanche’s delight lmfao)

She carries around a blue notebook filled with math equations and math problems with increasing difficulty. It is thus the only thing that relaxes her. 

People close to her probably have noticed it. Lea sent it with her mom when she was in the hospital.

Blanche journals every night and writes down everything. 

People aware: AJ I think saw it.

Blanche did ballet from 5 years old to 14 years old because Granny made her. Blanche has literally burned any existing photos except for the ones stuck n the photo album in her attic. 

Blanche is terrified of poltergeists and has been extremely paranoid and angry and in an overall bad place at the moment and has been bottling it up because that’s how you deal with emotions healthy 

Blanche  has many piercings and what not, but she has lucky little diamond earrings that she wears in the third hole. They were Granny’s. While she switches out other earrings, those never come out.

10 Rumors: 

Blanche is schizophrenic.

This rumor is the main one that’s fired up around the school lately because of Jeremy Briggs with the help of Amanda and other mean people.

Blanche is not a natural blonde

She is. Some just say she takes care of her roots very well.

The reason that Blanche is so good at math is because she’s a secret alien from outer space.

She cheats on all her math tests. 

Blanche thinks she’s better than everyone else and that’s why she has no friends and talks to herself all the time.

Blanche attacked Jeremy in the middle of a classroom randomly and gave him a black eye. Jeremy was only defending himself when he hit her back.

Everyone has heard this, but there isn’t exactly... believed by everyone bc Blanche’s on crutches.

She has a super secret boyfriend that’s like 30 and that’s why

Thank you 

Blanche’s prom date didn’t exist and she thinks he did. 

She sees dead people

This is said more as a joke less frequently.

Blanche broke her leg because she tripped over a tube of toothpaste and fell down the stairs

This might have been started by Blanche because she says something different whenever someone asks her.

[empathtaite-blog]

Ashford River Douglas

 VERSION: AR

NAME/NICKNAMES: Douglas Jonathan Taite

SPECIES: Human (Empath)

HOMETOWN: Born in AR 

TOWN STANDING/JOB: Guitarist for a band

SUPERNATURAL INVOLVEMENT: This Douglas was slightly more involved with the supernatural than his AC counterpart. His grandmother was an empath and was able to give him advice about dealing with his abilities more effectively, and he was just generally more aware of supernatural goings on.

PERSONALITY: 

Confident: Due to his training, Douglas had never felt too out of place as an empath. He was far more sure of himself and his abilities.

Passive: Much like his AC counterpart, he tended to let things just happen to him. He was aware of the effect the leanan-sidhe was having on him, but he didn’t really care.

Compassionate: Douglas cared a great deal about many people and didn’t want them to get hurt. This was part of the reason he stayed with the leanan-sidhe, as he knew she would suffer if she couldn’t feed and others would be her next targets.

FAMILY: 

Parents: Jonathan Taite (deceased, alive in AC) and Rita Taite (a writer, a professor of biology in AC)

Siblings: Jacob Taite, Allison Taite (his two younger sisters do not exist in AR)

Others: Eleanor Taite (empath grandmother, died before AC Douglas was born)

BACKSTORY SUMMARY: 

Born the youngest of three children, Douglas always struggled with emotions. As an empath in Ashwood River, he was very aware of the feelings of every supernatural creature around him, particularly those who had less than kind intentions. Luckily, his grandmother was also an empath and was able to give him some help learning how to deal with his abilities, and after she died his family supported him as best they could. This Douglas was far more confident in himself and ended up dropping out of college to pursue music with a few of his friends.

One night he met a leanan-sidhe and quickly fell under her spell. Despite the concerns of his family and friends he continued to see her, positive that this was true love. His parents eventually hired a rogue warden to get rid of the leanan-sidhe, but she was able to fight him off and kill him, having recently fed off of Douglas. Not long after that, Douglas died as she drained the last of his life force from his body.

DIFFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS: 

Big number one thing: In AR he’s dead, in AC he’s still alive and has a kid

In both AR and AC he played in a band, but in AR it continued after his death and in AC the band broke up when he left it

in AR he was much more in control of his abilities and was far more confident in them. He also was more open about them and many of his friends were at least a little bit aware.

[katherine-collins-blog]

VERSION: Ashford River. (I will still be playing the Ashkent Creek Katherine).

NAME/NICKNAMES: Katherine Collins-Woods

SPECIES: Human (Scribe/Warden [not active])

HOMETOWN: Dublin, Ireland but Katherine moved to Ashford River over a decade ago to fill a “temporary” position with the Scribe HQ.

TOWN STANDING/JOB: Katherine has worked as a Scribe in the Ashford River headquarters for thirteen years. The relocation was only meant to be a temporary position but she grew roots in the community and decided to stay after a year into the job. She's also very involved in the community as a whole and highly regarded and well known. Her children all attend school in Ashford River and she attends every PTA meeting, takes part in all of the fundraisers and even chaperones every dance, much to her children’s dismay.

SUPERNATURAL INVOLVEMENT: Outside of her regular Scribe duties, Katherine is very involved in helping newly transformed or recently discovered supernaturals understand who and what they are.

PERSONALITY: AR Katherine is still very much like her AC counterpart. She’s charismatic, self sufficient, professional. She’s a force to be reckoned with, just much more in your face with it in AR. She works hard, throwing herself into her work, and often overdoing it in her family life. She has a fierce need to be the best at what she does after growing up in a very large family--it’s her way of standing out. She makes a point to be the life of every party, often throwing them at her home whenever she has the opportunity for almost any reason. She often manipulates her way into people’s business, whether it's for a sincerely good reason or for personal gain/knowledge to use at a later date. She's generally very friendly and usually does genuinely want to help, even if she doesn’t always go about it the right way.

One big difference is AR Katherine’s openness and acceptance. She’s never felt that rejection or shame from being the only Warden in her family and there’s no hostility there. She doesn’t feel the need to be secretive about who and what she is or does. 

As a Scribe it’s her duty to remain neutral, which would never fly with AC Katherine. 

FAMILY: Katherine still keeps in touch with her family in Ireland almost daily. Katherine is married to Abby Woods, a native of Ashford River, who owns a bakery in town (rival to For Heaven’s Cake). Together they've adopted three children: Toby (6), Mae (13) and Antonio (16). Recently her niece Darcy has also come to live in the Collins-Woods household.

BACKSTORY SUMMARY:

Katherine grew up as the fourth of eight children in a family full of Scribes and it's all she's ever known. The overachiever of her siblings, she became well regarded in the Scribe community as an aspiring up and comer. When she was only twenty-six, she was offered the opportunity to help restructure the Ashford River branch. She jumped at the opportunity, surprised to find herself growing roots in the small town. She met Abby a few months into her stay, very quickly falling for the budding baker. The two began a family after a small civil-union ceremony in 2006, two years after Katherine settled into Ashford River. They were officially married in July 2015.

Over the years, Katherine rose through the ranks within the Scribe Headquarters, balancing her energies between her work and family life. Tragedy fell upon the Collins family in January 2015, however. Her older brother Jack and his wife were both killed in a car accident back in Dublin. Her niece took the deaths of her parents the worst, unsurprisingly. Darcy acted out constantly. After moving in with her grandparents, trouble seemed to stick to Darcy like a bad habit. Unable to handle the poor girl's emotional problems and outbursts, her grandparents sent Darcy to live with Katherine and her family in an effort to bring some stability to the young woman’s life. 

DIFFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:

Katherine is human. While still a Warden, this gene has amazingly never been activated and has laid dormant her entire life. Unless she has some sort of intense physical altercation or there’s a sudden fae infestation in AR, it’s likely it’ll stay that way. She’s also grown up never questioning her place as a Scribe. While she still feels the need to stand out, she uses her energies to be the very best Scribe, especially the best out of her siblings. So far, she’s succeeded. 

Katherine is extremely anti-violence. She won't even allow her kids to play graphic video games or watch R rated movies.

She has a great relationship with her family back in Ireland. She speaks to at least one sibling or parent a day. After being used to a large family most of her life, she yearns for one herself and constantly surrounds herself with people.

Katherine is extremely outgoing and often inserts herself anyway she can into town events. Everyone, whether they like it or not, knows Katherine Collins-Woods.

[rezathevamp-blog]

Better Luck Next Time || AR Solo

400 meters. 

The palms of his hands itched against the scratchy surface of the running track, only a faint shadow visible against the red Polyurethane ground, the sun hiding behind thick clouds. 

His steady breath conveyed the sense that everything was fine, despite his heart beating rather sporadically beneath his rib cage. Whether from nerves or half-assed withdrawal, he wasn’t sure and couldn’t be bothered to care. 

All that mattered was the time Reza would receive at the end of the track. 

The bang resonated in his skull, propelling him off the ground, wind whipping his hair back. The expensive running shoes slapped against the ground as he sprinted forward, immediately coming up shoulder to shoulder with the guy closest to him. 

300 meters, his breath now coming in shorter bursts, heart still pounding. Distantly, he heard cheering, just a few friends and family coming to cheer on their runner. It wasn’t a big thing, just an annual competition within the college’s track team, and Reza had come in second or third place for the last few semesters. His parents had usually showed up, proud to have raised one of the best runners in Ashkent, but today they’d had more important things to tend to. 

It wasn’t every day that your real child was playing a tree with no lines in a play that had no actual impact on their future. 

150 meters and the muscles Reza’s legs were starting to strain, the familiar ache in his lungs starting to tickle up his trachea. The cheering from the onlookers only exhilarated him, even though none of them were cheering for him. If he actually came in first place, Maryann and Keith would feel horrible, abandoning him for a six year old’s stupid play. 

The distance reached double digits and Reza could feel every pump of his heart, trace the blood’s travels from his aorta into every artery, glowing with life and power and speed. Just not enough speed. 

It was never enough. 

The finish line disappeared behind him and Reza slowed to a jog, the disappointment burning in his stomach not allowing him to look back. Second place. Again. He could imagine the dinner conversation already. “Well, looks like we didn’t need to show up after all since it was just like last year.”

Breathing hard from exertion and anger, dark locks flopping into his eyes and drenching with sweat, Reza reluctantly returned to the benches for his stuff. He’d been so fucking close now, too. 

The track sweater branding him with the UMAC initials waited past the cheering crowds and Reza shouldered his way through, garnering gleeful and pitying looks. “What a sore loser,” someone whispered. Reza’s fists clenched.

A heavy slap to his back threatened to push him off balance, Jason’s grinning face meeting Reza when he turned. “Good run out there, man. You almost had me. Well, better luck next time.” White noise filled Reza’s ears, bouncing off the walls of his skull, mixing in with the sound of his heavy breathing. 

“Are you mocking me? You piece of sh-” The swing of Reza’s arm was caught short, thin but toned arms wrapping around his torso to hold him back. Jason, although taken back, was still grinning. 

“Rez, stop! What the hell is the matter with you?” 

Reza tore himself free from the protecting grip, narrowed eyes burning holes into the teammate that had saved him from a very shitty talk with the coach and probably the principal. Wouldn’t that just have made Maryann and Keith so damn proud?

“Fuck you,” he spat at Jason, aggressively shouldering the guy still ready to grab him in case Reza attempted another right arm hook. Heavy bag hoisted up onto one shoulder, he ignored the dead silence following his theatrical exit. At least someone was paying attention to him, now.

Blinking sweat from his eyes, long lashes catching the trickling drops, Reza pulled out his phone in the privacy of the large courtyard, leaning against one of the trees as his fingers tapped out a message. ‘all out. need somethin new. where u at?’

His foot jittered impatiently as he waited for a reply, heart leaping into his throat when the phone finally pinged. His parents wouldn’t be home for a while, wouldn’t notice his absence. 

It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.  

[professor-exorcist]

I Am She As You Are She As You Are Me||Solo[AR]

“I’m on a clock here!” Bex shouted, tapping her wrist. 

Well, not technically tapping, since she had no tangibility right now-- but the motion was what mattered. “We don’t have all night! As soon as the sun comes up, this is kaput. So move it or lose it, buddy.”

The other specter looked over at her with a furrow of his brow. The left side of his face was mangled. Poor thing had died in a motorcycle accident at 22. “How’s this gonna help us, anyway?” he asked with a huff.

Bex rolled her eyes, poofed over to him, arms already cross over her chest. “I already explained it to you, Chester,” she pointed out. He jumped-- funny, how a ghost could still get scared-- at her sudden appearance. Sometimes she forgot not everyone had been dead for more than twenty years. “If we find the stone by dark, the Coven’s going to set up a sanctuary zone for us, where exorcists can’t reach ghosts. A no exorcist zone. It’s been unheard of until now, but this-- this is the key.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible...” Chester mumbled, going back to his search. They were in a museum, a little ways outside of town. Chester had just learned how to navigate out of town, and Bex’s presence was helping keep him anchored. She’d mastered that skill long ago. “And besides, how are we supposed to even pick the damn thing up if we find it? We’re ghosts,” he said, sticking his hand through a wall for emphasis, “we can’t touch anything.”

Bex scoffed. “No, Chester,” she said, poofing away from him, “you can’t touch anything. Just leave it to me. Now get back to searching! Time is ticking!”

“Oi, oi!” came another voice. Vickers, the other specter she’d brought along (an older gentleman, who had died peacefully but still come back, lost and confused about why his wife couldn’t see him anymore) waved for Bex’s attention. The lights flickered a little. Despite being a gentle soul, Vickers didn’t know what he was capable of, and he had amassed a lot of power after being a wandering spirit for so long. “I think I found something.”

Bex poofed over instantly, gazing into the hole he was motioning to. In it was a locked box. “I can feel something in there, but I can’t get it out. You know,” he gave a shrug, “not being able to control my stuff.”

Bex nodded. “I got it from here.” Closing her eyes, she concentrated a moment as she phased her hand through the box, wrapped it around the object inside and paused a moment. Concentrated all of her energy into her hand, and when she felt the orb merge with her, become intangible as well, she yanked her hand out, successfully holding the orb. 

She rematerialized it, holding it out for the others to see. Everyone gathered around, staring at the small, glowing orb in her palm. “What is it?” Chester asked.

“The answer to all our prayers,” Bex said, a smile on her face.

“How come we never heard of this thing before, then?” Vickers asked.

Turning to him, Bex beamed, the excitement of mystery and adventure behind the orb plastered on her opaque face. “A place far, far away. Another dimension entirely. Or so they say.” She held the object up between them, could feel it resonating with power. 

“Ashkent Creek,” she announced, “the mirror image of our world.”

[wrenjekyll]

AR Version [Re-Do]

Version

Ashford River (I’m playing the AC Version)

Name/Nickname

Wren Tabitha Jekyll

Hometown

Lancashire, England

Town Standing/Job

Wren found employment in a greenhouse conservatory, her primary duties are maintaining it (and the small bee farm adjacent to it), but she does do private landscaping and has worked with fellow conservationists and most people who know her from that circle see her as a nice person and they’re not totally wrong because generally when she is working she’s really easy-going. Yet, because of the history of bugbears she was raised how important it was to exert your strength when possible so she does do that if people start thinking of her as nothing more than a delicate young girl. You’d be smart to fear this bugbear.

Supernatural Involvement

Raised to be a proud bugbear, Wren’s primary circle is bugbears. She’s got some human and other supernatural acquaintances from work and sometimes just people she doesn’t mind hanging around with, but she was taught that bugbears stick together. Given the fear of them in AR, she and the ones she hangs out with kind of act like they’re untouchable most of the time which has given them a bit of a rowdy reputation and I’m sure they’re not allowed in some places of business because of it.

Personality

Wren’s still a pretty friendly person, although there’s not really any modesty in her. For one, her parents told her that she comes from a strong line of bugbears and two, some bugbear families are into that, so that’s big ego boost. However, growing up with two parents who raised her to be confident definitely helped out. Her attitude is far more adultlike than it is in AC. She’s a big sibling, she is the responsible one, but she still enjoys to have fun in life. Although it’s less pulling pranks and eating cake and more having a couple of drinks and hanging out with friends.

Wren does have a nasty side however and isn’t afraid to show it. It’s mostly toward non-bugbears that she shows this to, but maybe if a fellow bugbear pissed her off they would get it too. If you piss Wren off she’ll just straight out deck you with no preamble, literally punch you mid-sentence. Usually it doesn’t take more than that to shut someone up (she’s got quite a swing), but if that doesn’t stop you, you’re getting your head kicked in and if you’re still talking crap, she’ll get you as a bugbear. She doesn’t have a short temper but is aggressive and if you insult her or her family in any way that’ll get you on her bad side.

Family

Clarissa and Oliver Jekyll are still her parents. As far as she knows both grandparents on both sides are still living, but her parents aren’t in contact with them, which isn’t out of ordinary. Family is important, but once you’re going on to create your own family, your parents & siblings aren’t that involved in your life anymore.

Two younger siblings popped up in this version of Wren. Her parents went on to have baby Ruth, who is two years younger than Wren and then little Ian who is three years younger.

Backstory

Urban areas are difficult for a bugbear, especially those preferring to stay under the radar with little interference of hunters. Wren’s parents met in more of an arranged situation, something that began once bugbears started to die off and continued on in some families as a means to prevent that from happening again. Her father was a very strong bugbear, capable of great brute strength and what better person to have a family of bugbears with? So, they settled in Lancashire. They were pretty good at hiding things too. Since the whole coupling was kind of to make kids, that’s what they did. First came out lil Wren and in two years time came Ruth and following her came Ian and the two of them made up Wren’s little siblings and the rest of the AR Jekyll family.

Childhood composed mostly of learning things about bugbears, especially the fact that they were hunted almost to the point of extinction and that it was up to every bugbear line to continue (and thus interspecies relationships were kind of looked down on but not too strict as older generations). A great species pride was put into them, because in some places they were now feared with a mere utter of the word. Still there was some hesitation to go into cities so they were taught how to provide for themselves should they ever need to retreat back into the wild.

Her mother specialized in plant husbandry and had a personal garden for her family as well as ran a greenhouse for the town so Wren recalls helping her mother out when it came to planting and when it came to harvesting throughout her childhood. Her father on the other hand, his specialty was construction, but focused on repairs in the town, from roofing to plumbing, a handyman of sorts. Her parents, while they did enjoy each other’s company, there wasn’t that much warmth for each other as there was for the children and once you get to a certain age, they picked up on it.

Once Wren turned twenty, her parents felt it was best for her to leave the home. There were no other bugbears in the town and so her chances of finding a fellow bugbear to settle down with wasn’t likely. However, her parents knew of a good bugbear family overseas who were interested in Wren meeting their daughter. Being the oldest it was important for Wren to set an example for her siblings who would be doing this in just a few years. So off Wren went to meet this bugbear.

Wren didn’t really hit it off with the girl, but they remain in touch (a sort of “i guess if I find no one else” last resort) and she chose to remain in the U.S and of late is residing in Ashford River.

Difference Highlights

She grew up in the countryside of Lancashire and has only been in Ashford River for two years, so her accent is not only prevalent but it is different from her AC accent.

She works maintaining a greenhouse conservatory, but doesn’t run/own it, her primary work is tending to it, watering/pruning plants, cleaning the windows, etc. Does some private landscaping work, but generally sticks to inside and around the greenhouse.

Her father is still alive and she has a younger sister and brother and the family more or less got along but now that she’s technically in the part of her life where she should be on her own, ties from them are a little strained but not non-existent.

Wren is a pretty good catch among bugbear families (especially those in cities) looking to set up their kids, not because of the children Wren will make (that’d be gross and she’s still gay) but because she would be a good mentor to her children and raise confident and skilled bugbears who can provide for themselves [sidenote: I’d say this mentality is different among bugbears and is considered a little outdated but some do still practice it. I liken it to how some families like to set their kid up with a friend of a friend of a friend’s kid who is a doctor or something]

Wren is a lot more confident in this version and doesn’t have the childish tendencies her AC version does. She’s not the least bit shy and her modesty is a bit lacking, but I wouldn’t go so far to call her arrogant. This Wren is a bit more violent than AC Wren, if that’s even possible. She will go and punch you in the face or start something if you insult her in any way.

[blythewonder]

Good Girls Go Bad || Bridget & Molly [AR]

A sampling from the other side...

In Ashford River, Molly and Bridget deal with a deal gone somewhat wrong.

ft. the AR Boyfriends (aka Xavier and Jonas)

Molly was lying on the grass with one earbud tucked into her left ear as the other laid uselessly in the grass next to her head. The headphones had become a permanent accessory for Molly it seemed, and even at work the older Scribes didn't say anything to her about her headphones any longer. Not that they held much hold over her to begin with. Her father and grandfather held pretty high positions in this chapter and basically gave Molly immunity from any of the other Scribes that might have a problem with her or what she wore to work daily. But today wasn't a work day. Today she was just waiting for whoever Bridget had set up to buy some information to show up. Molly used to just supply the information for Bridget and let her handle the physical deal, accepting her cut afterwards. But she grew tired of sitting in the background and requested to start coming along just because she had grown bored. But waiting for this buyer to show up was equally as boring. "Is this a repeat customer? If so he sucks." Molly groaned from the ground, looking over at Bridget. She had been to a few meetings with her by now, but none that she had to wait outside in the cold for.

Bridget was sitting up, legs crossed as she scrolled through her phone, only half-paying attention to the buzz of the town around her. Her hair hung around her face in perfect curls. Her contact was supposed to arrive now, and she hated waiting. Always had. It was part of why she'd straight up applied early decision to college -- and even that hadn't been fast enough. "Where the fuck is he?" She glared at her phone, typing out a quick message. "He's repeat, but he's usually ​quite​ prompt." She glanced over to Molly. "You haven't heard anything, right? Because he's running on fifteen minutes late now and I'm ready to move on with my day." Her phone buzzed and she looked down. Someone else, not the guy they were supposed to be meeting. "What are you listening to?" She nodded at Molly as she pulled a package of gum out of her purse and unwrapped a piece. "Want one?" She held it out to her friend.

"He's quite late today," ​Molly​ pointed out the obvious, shaking her head at Bridget's next question. "Nope. I don't even know who the guy is. You made me promise not to hack into your stuff remember?" Molly had made it a habit of reading every file of every Scribe member that worked in Ashford River. Including Bridget's. And sometimes Molly took it a little further by adding a backdoor into their computer systems, especially if Molly thought it might be useful to her in the future. But the closer that her and Bridget became, the quicker Bridget became aware of just how capable Molly was with computers. She made Molly promise not to look into her personal things soon after that. Being the good friend Molly was, she had decided to respect that wish. "Avril Lavigne of course." A true pioneer of her generation and severely underappreciated. "Don't mind if I do" she popped the piece into her mouth and chewed for a bit before blowing a big bubble and letting it pop.

"So I've noticed." ​Bridget​ rolled her eyes. "I do remember, but I don't know, maybe you heard something from him." She tapped angrily at her phone again, red manicured nails clicking against the screen. "This isn't him, FYI." She said, chewing on her gum. "Some bullshit trainee Scribe wants to talk to me and ask about all my studies, just because one of my dads published that paper about fae languages. Like I give even one shit." She sighed. "Avril Lavigne? Not bad. A little dated, but hey, I like a girl who can appreciate the classics." She giggled, before blowing a bubble with her gum and sucking it back in. "I swear, if I get frostbite I'm going to kill somebody." She tugged her jacket tighter around her body.

Molly shrugged from her spot on the ground, barely doing anything except wrinkling her leather jacket. "I let you handle the people stuff I just steal the information." Molly had purposely built a login system into the Scribe server she created, specifically created as a security system for purposes exactly like how Molly now used it. The irony killed Molly too. All information logged or pulled up was kept under a specific Scribe number assigned to each person. That way she could keep track of who used what. Luckily Molly knew the only way around that. It's what made her so valuable to Bridget. "Have you told him that he can just look the stuff up on the computers and read the files for himself?" Molly suggested, a small part of her still acting in defensive of the to-be Scribe. She didn't care enough to actually get involved with it though. She glanced over at her phone, which currently had the camera feed from the park pulled up on it, to see a figure approaching the entrance. "Hey this dude looks shady is this your guy?" Molly asked, tossing her phone at Bridget.

Bridget nodded. "I'm aware, I'm quite a people person, funny enough. Thanks daddy and papa, at least you did something right." She made a face. "You know that I'm forever totally grateful to you for that, right?" She smiled over to Molly. It was true, she had grown incredibly fond of the other girl. Her job was possible to do solo -- she'd done just that back in Salem -- but having someone else made it all the more enjoyable. "I have. He says, and I practically quote, 'Oh, but Bridget, I want to talk to you.' Though he used the letter 'u' for 'you', but whatever." She glanced over to Molly's phone. "Mm-hmm, looks like him." She pushed herself off the ground, stuffing her own phone into her jacket pocket and crossed her arms over her chest. "Remember, he's curious about ashrays, right? He's just a warlock or something. Should be no problem-o at all."

Molly sat up and smiled widely at Bridget, "I know." She had been pretty thankful for the two finding each other. Before Bridget Molly had only ever stolen one file from that Scribes, and that was for Jonas. But that had been it. She had basically done nothing in her entire life wrong and had grown so incredibly bored of it. She needed something a little more flavorful in her live. "Maybe he has a crush on you. How adorable." Making a heart symbol with her hands and finally getting to her feet also. "Right. I got the flashdrive right here." She fished the flashdrive out of her jacket pocket and waved it around before stuffing it back into her pocket. "Ooh here comes the broody warlock right now. Work your magic Blythe."

"Well, so long as you know." ​Bridget​ grinned back to Molly. At least there was somebody else in the stifling place that was Ashford's HQ who she could stand to talk to. She made a face as Molly continued. "Oh I hope not. I mean, I am hot, but I don't think Xavier wants to share me, at least not with the boy who's been begging for the chance to talk to me. But hey, maybe I'll do it anyhow, wear an extra nice outfit, make his year." She let out a soft giggle. "Thanks a load." She nodded. "Don't call him that to his face, but I'm on it." Bridget fluffed the ends of her hair and made her way over to the man -- tall -- not as tall as Xavier, she noted with pride -- hair with way too much gel, a tattoo on his neck. As if he could become anything more of a stereotype. "We've got what you asked for," she smirked, making sure to keep the grin on her face as she stared up at him. "Every. Last. Detail." Bridget took a few steps closer to the man, relishing in the moment. "We don't disappoint," she cracked her gum, "so now all you've got to do is tuck that check of yours that I know you've already written," Bridget winked, "right into my pocket and my friend here'll give you just what you asked for, and then all of us can be out of this frigid weather." She blew out, her breath crystalizing, as if to make her point all the more clear. "Well, this'll be of good use." He replied. "But I wanna see what I'm getting first." He looked over to Molly. "Not given, just a view."

With a sort of astonished amazement, ​Molly​ watched as Bridget seemingly flipped a switch around different people. In front of the other Scribes Bridget was seemingly a perfect Scribe, living up to her legacy just as Molly was. And yet when she was with Molly she did almost a 180. Sarcastic, making fun of any Scribe that had dared to talk to her that day. She seemed real. Then in front of this man is was all business, with just a bit of fun tucked into it. Bridget was so good at playing others that she actually started to wonder just if the Bridget that Molly saw was the real one or just another mask. Whether or not that was the case, Molly couldn't help but like Bridget even more. Then the warlock turned his attention onto Molly and asked for the information. A preview at least. Right. Confirmation of the goods. People were good for this. She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and found his phone rather easily. Searching for Wi-Fi out here in the middle of the park? Not the wisest decision. She hacked into his phone easily and then pulled out the cord that connected from her phone and allowed someone to transfer a Flashdrive's information onto a cellular device. "Check your phone" she said, just as his phone began chiming. "Take a good luck now dude. Because that file will delete itself in about thirty seconds." As the grumbled and became distracted looking at his phone Molly grinned at Bridget and gave her a nonchalant thumbs up.

She almost wished Xavier could be here to watch her. But ​Bridget​ thoroughly enjoyed everything she did on her own. Without her sister around -- like her fathers had attempted to force upon her when she was a little girl. No, this was all on her own, and she'd gotten a true friend out of it in Molly, and so really, what was the harm? She could detail this to Xavier later when she went to his apartment. He'd said that he had a special surprise for her. She hoped it was new clothing. As the warlock -- Garvey -- spoke, Bridget chanced a glance over to Molly, watching in awe and appreciation as she worked her magic, before she turned back to Garvey. "I -- we -- don't disappoint." She winked at Molly. "This is good." Garvey said, voice gruff. "But I don't know, you're only two little girls, should I really pay you the full amount? This'll just be used for one quick viewing -- after all, that boy should be exposed for what he is, after all, and you two are charging quite the steep price." Bridget took a step forward, lips in a straight line. "We deliver, you pay." She glanced over at Molly. "My friend's done a fucking brilliant job, here. Also last I heard, you weren't doing this for any sort of bullshit exposure. I thought it was to gain some of their water or whatever. What gives?"

Excuse this creep, ​Molly​ was above average height for a female. She rolled her eyes at the man from a few feet back and began looking through his phone. Bridget even sounded a little confused as to his motives. Not that the two generally cared much for the reason behind wanting something from them, only caring about the highest bidder. But when those bidders went back on the money, Molly became a little more curious. She started going through his text messages, searching for anytime he used the word 'Ashray'. She flicked through a few messages that he had exchanged with a man who popped up in his phone as bae. Original. "Bridge. He's trying to expose a Scribe" She questioned out loud. Very clear, the name of a man that the two worked with at the headquarters who was clearly a an Ashray according to the file Molly had read when she started, was splattered all across their messages. "Our files detail how to kill an Ashray." Molly didn't care for the Scribes in any way, but she had worked with the guy. It wasn't like she wanted him to die. Molly took a deep breath, knowing that showing weakness was only going to make things worse. Instead, she did the next best thing she could think of. "Tsk tsk. You told your banking app to save your password?" She looked down at the phone dramatically, "And it's just your birthday backwards? Gotta do better than that dude." She tapped away at the phone, making sure to be extra loud with it. "You bitch" He growled, inching forward, but she held up a hand. "It'd be a lost cheaper to just give us the check than let me transfer out as much money as I can type in a second. Spoiler: It's a lot."

"Hm?" ​Bridget​ stepped away from the man for a minute, casting her eyes over to Molly. She'd had a bidder back out once before, or try to, until Bridget got him to change his mind. But this was different, and during that time she hadn't had Molly around to see if something else was up. Until now. "I don't--" ​care​, she wanted to say, but the words caught in her throat and she let out a sigh before flashing a glare over to Garvey. Damn Molly and her still mostly-present morals. At least when it came to caring about their co-workers. Not that Bridget advocated death, but she just wanted the deal cut and down with now, before her whole body froze. "Fuck off, Garvey." She moved away from Molly again. "You told me it was just so you could have fun with a bothersome one. You know I don't" -- ​usually​ "sell out my coworkers. That's some bullshit you're trying to pull on us." She crossed her arms. "My friend's not shitting you, so you better do what we say." Garvey took a step towards Bridget and she felt her body stiffen just slightly. "No can do, sweet-heart." He blew a kiss at the two of them. "You said you'd deliver, I never made you any kind of promise. So give me the file and all'll be well and good."

Molly could transfer all of the money out of his accounts in seconds, but that didn't seem to bother him. And without being able to threaten him electronically, what could Molly even do against the man? He was a warlock after all. Even if he was just a regular man she wasn't sure if the two could fight him off. Molly knew she couldn't. She inched backwards almost instinctively, letting a wave of fear wash over her. They could run right? Maybe they could. Could he stop them with some kind of magic? She played with the flash drive in her jacket pocket and thought about just handing it over to him. But before she could pull it out she saw a ridiculously tall figure approaching from behind the man. Next to him was a slightly shorter man and Molly was overcome with relief. "This douchebag giving you a problem?" The taller man called out curiously. The boyfriends were here.

Bridget wasn't sure exactly what do do. She had half a mind to grab the flashdrive from Molly and step on it, but what good would that do? Garvey didn't seem to be the sort to let things like that go lightly. Or maybe she could grab the flashdrive and just give it to him. One fewer scribe for the world to have to deal with. "I--" she'd began, before Xavier and Jonas appeared and Bridget let out a sigh of relief, flashing a grin over to Xavier. "He is." She pouted, just slightly. Not enough for it to be whinny, but just enough that he came over and pulled her closer to his body. "Dude, what gives?" Xavier said, his voice slightly gruff. "Breaking promises can lead to other broken things, let that sink into your mind." Bridget glanced over to Jonas, wondering if he'd speak up or if he and Molly were going to let her and Xavier do all the talking. She almost hoped he'd speak up. The two of them had shown up, the least they could do would be provide some use to the situation.

"What do you want me to do with him?" Jonas whispered into ​Molly​'s ear s he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her. She stood just a few inches short than he did, just enough for him to rest his chin on her shoulder. Molly grinned. "Well a few broken bones wouldn't hurt too bad would it?" She asked out loud, mostly to the four of them. With all four of them here, this warlock did little more than annoy Molly. "What do you two think of some broken bones?" She called out to Bridget and Xavier.

"I wouldn't be opposed to a little of that, how about you?" Xavier pressed his lips against ​Bridget's​ head. "I haven't done that in a long while." He glanced over to Jonas and back to Garvey. Bridget found herself straightening up a little taller. Not that she would have let someone like the warlock ruffle her, but having both her and Molly's boyfriends here just made everything all the more thrilling. Especially when Garvey was at least four inches shorter than Xavier. "It might be a proper response, given how gosh darn disrespectful he's been to us, don't you think?" Bridget blew a bubble with her gum and let it ​pop!​ against her lips, sucking it in. "What goes around comes around, huh? In all sorts of funny ways."

"Fuck you guys," The warlock growled, pulling the crumpled check out of his pocket and practically throwing it at Bridget and Xavier before scampering off across the grass and out of their line of sight. Molly and Jonas both immediately busted out laughing. "What a fucking prick" Jonas laughed, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket, popping it in his mouth, and then lighting it, "Should let me go after him. I could catch him." Molly shook her head and shrugged his suggestion off. "Don't worry. The ARPD are going to realize that they actually have an open warrant for arrest on Garvey for attempted murder soon." She beamed from her phone, then pulled herself free from Jonas and made her way over offering a high five to both Xavier and Bridget, "We crushed that deal I think?"

"I love you." ​Bridget​ giggled, blowing a kiss toward Molly. "Best to let him go," Bridget began, glancing up at Xavier, "you can beat something up later, okay?", she bent down to pick up the check, pulling it tight between her hands, "we got paid and didn't even have to give him anything!" She gave a high-five to Molly. "I think this calls for extra celebration, if I do say so myself. Not every day you just get money and an afternoon off, hm?"

“I say we got get some drinks" ​Molly​ suggested. She was still underage, but Jonas had an in with more than a few of the bars here in town. And all of the owners knew Molly now by association. They didn't mind letting her drink when Jonas was with her. "I could really go for a cheeseburger right now" She laughed, wrapping her arms around Jonas in a hug before falling into pace with him, walking alongside Xavier and Bridget. "Maybe you'll get lucky and some drunk guy with start a bar fight Xavier. Then you can break some bones." Nothing was better than making some money on the side then spending her day off with her four best friends.

[blancheharlow]

Banner by Ria 

Ashford River Blanche’ 

TLDR: Blanche, but with a gun.

VERSION: I currently play Ashkent Creek Blanche, so the following bio is Ashford River Blanche. 

NAME/NICKNAMES: Blanche Lousie Harlow. 

AGE: 19, born June 19th, 1998.

SPECIES: Human; Exorcist-in-Training/Medium 

HOMETOWN: Ashford River

TOWN STANDING/JOB: Exorcist-in-Training, High School Dropout

SUPERNATURAL INVOLVEMENT: Blanche is a medium and an exorcist apprentice. 

PERSONALITY: Blanche is independent, sarcastic, and introverted. She gets distracted less easily and is a lot less awkward. Her core personality is the same, except perhaps a tad more biting and cynical. 

FAMILY: 

Diane Harlow (Mother; Estranged)

Jean Harlow (Father; Estranged)

Jean Harlow Jr. (Brother; Estranged; 13; Medium)

Blanche Lousie Harlow Sr. (Great Grandmother; Deceased; Passed On)

Roy Harlow (Great Grandfather; Alive [barely])

BACKSTORY SUMMARY: 

Granny passed on once she died, leaving the family hierarchy in the hands of her loving husband, Roy. This  left Blanche to fend for herself and the abundance of ghosts in Ashford River-- Blanche was constantly plagued by the ghosts, having nightmares and pointing them out in the street. She didn’t understand why no one believed her. Of course, when a young girl is talking and pointing out things that don’t exist... well... Blanche was subjected to long tests ad exams, and heavily medicated until the diagnoses eventually came to be  schizophrenia.

Blanche thought she was just crazy until she met an exorcist in high school. She was heavily medicated and was seeing a slew of therapists. The exorcist, bless his old soul, sat her down and finally explained everything. Once that happened, Blanche did what any other child would do-- she ran away with him. She had just began a relationship with another kid at school named Logan, but even he thought she was crazy. While nasty rumors may surface, Blanche’s exorcist was her mentor and a tough cookie at that. 

She only returned to Ashford River after she was 18, and she doesn’t speak to her family. They don’t try to speak to her either-- well, except for her little brother. She’s publicly out as an exorcist and she and her mentor have a business. 

DIFFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:

Likes to dye her hair pink

Hates cats

Can perform exorcisms

Has no issues hiding who or what she is

Mentor also gave her self defense training

She will use said self defense training if needed. She is aware of other supernatural species. She carries weapons on her because she is paranoid. 

Does carry silver, a gun, etc, on her person. No, she does not have license to carry. Like techer like student. 

Ghost Hunter. 

A tad bit more greedy when it comes to money. Being cut off isn’t a nice thing and she liks her money.

Dislikes her family, but has a soft spot for her little brother. She suspects that he has her gift as well, but won’t talk about it with him. She’s conflicted, unsure how to explain. 

Had a relationship with a waiter named Logan before she dropped out of high school. She has thus been avoiding her. 

[professor-exorcist]

VERSION: Ashford River

NAME/NICKNAMES: Rebecca Clover Rosenberg, (FC: Emmy Rossum) Went by Bex. She has a different last name because her parents wanted to go “against” patriarchal tradition and give her her mother’s last name. 

SPECIES: Medium in life, she’s currently a ghost. (Died at 27)

HOMETOWN: Still from New Haven, Connecticut. But if you asked her she’d just say “Nature”.

TOWN STANDING/JOB: She was a reputable medium who offered services in speaking to ghosts for people, for whatever reason, though it started by her offering the cliche “I can talk to your dead loved ones” pitch. Now, as a ghost, she tries to keep the peace between specters and exorcists, but she’s slowly becoming prejudice against exorcists and their...extreme ways.

SUPERNATURAL INVOLVEMENT: She’s obviously very involved in the supernatural, although she doesn’t know a whole lot about different species. Ghosts are her specialty.

PERSONALITY: Naturally Intelligent (despite no proper education), Empathetic, Adventurous, Compassionate; Forceful, Stubborn, Ignorant to Societal Standards and Norms, Easily Susceptible to negative emotions.

FAMILY: In Ashford River, Rebecca’s parents decided to not leave their child with her bourgeoisie grandparents, and, instead, decided to take her with them on their whirlwind trip around the country. It was the height of the 70′s, after all! Everyone was doing it! Her mother, Karin, and her father, Ranen, still named her Rebecca (to keep up the Rothbard tradition of naming all the males in the family R names, even though Rebecca was a girl. They weren’t big on gender norms), but gave her a more “liberal” middle name, Clover, and the whole family changed their last name to Rosenberg when the two finally married (when Rebecca was 3). Her grandparents are both still alive (barely), living up in New Haven with an in-home nurse. Her parents have since left the country.

BACKSTORY SUMMARY: As stated above, Rebecca was taken with her parents instead of being abandoned, as they went off to travel the world in their broken down shag van and the clothes on their back. Because of this, Rebecca grew up very differently. Instead of preparatory schools, tutoring, and summer boarding schools, it was “home” taught history, economics, and a little bit of math. For the first twelve years of her life, the only home Rebecca knew was the van, which came accessible with one full sized bed in the back, and a twin sized cot pulled down up above it.

From an early age, however, her parents knew Rebecca was special. They noticed at a young age that she would seemingly talk to herself, but after a while, they realized it wasn’t herself, or even imaginary friends, she was talking to-- but ghosts. Being “entrepreneurs” themselves, her parents saw an opportunity in this. They started offering their daughter’s services, allowing people to approach her and ask to speak to their deceased loved ones (or deceased hated one, if that’s what floated their boat) in exchange for money. And it was good money, especially back when the craze was really hitting.

Rebecca grew up with an open mind and an open heart-- she was naive and easily taken advantage of, but she was also smart and witty, and knew how to swindle and lie if a situation called for it. She wasn’t stupid, but her kindness often allowed for people to take advantage of her. People like her parents. They started asking her to lie, more and more, and Rebecca didn’t like that. They weren’t mediums trying to help people anymore-- she was a con artist, tricking people out of their money. So, at 15, Rebecca packed her one bag during the night, and hopped on a bus going anywhere. It led her to Ashford River (probably because of the high density of ghosts and her being a medium...) where she settled in, started up her business again (more truthful this time), and started learning more about the supernatural culture and her own abilities.

Rebecca saw ghosts are poor creatures, unable to feel the living, but also unable to die. Because of this, she often allowed ghosts to possess her, with the promise that they would let her go after a day. It...didn’t always work out, and in her very last instance, an exorcist took it upon themselves to excise her, and killed both her and the ghost. She was only 27.

CURRENT CONFLICTS: In her death, she came back as a ghost, but instead of being angry, she wanted to try and help create a peace between exorcists and ghosts. But the ghosts were always too angry and the exorcists were always too violent, and it did not work out well for her. All these years later, and she amassed quite a bit of power herself as a specter, and takes to protecting ghosts over people now.

DIFFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:

Being raised by her hippy parents, Rebecca is very much a hippy herself, but she still has her underlying sense of adventure and her unwavering composure.

Not having been raised in such a strict environment, Rebecca was able to explore her sexuality much earlier on. She identifies as Pansexual/Panromantic rather than Bi, not that it matters much anymore.

She started going by the name Bex when she left her parents, who always called her Becca. She’s not fond of the name anymore.

In Ashkent, Rebecca had some medium abilities, but in Ashford, she was a full-fledged medium, who could see and hear ghosts with perfect clarity.

She never became a professor, but when she got to Ashford, she audited some classes at the university and did, indeed, take an interest in Anthropology and humanitarian studies.

She was home schooled, instead of having gone to a boarding school.

She wouldn’t know proper etiquette even if you showed her a full-fledged documentary on it.

[openbook-izel]

Touch of Challenge: Other Me

VERSION: Ashford River. This Izel is from Ashkent Creek

Izel Evans doesn’t exist in Ashford River. In fact, she doesn’t exist in that universe. So most of these subsections are a bit... awkard to fill out. That said, I can explain why she doesn’t exist and what the consequences for Izel will be. 

It’s actually pretty simple. Her grandparents just didn’t make the decision to move from Peru to America. Her mother was still born, but she didn’t move to the US either. Izel’s dad never met her mother, so no one that is close to enough to who Izel is to be her alternate half has ever existed. But, technically, both her parents exist, just as different individuals. Her dad is still a mara bodyguard, her mother lives in Peru and only has two kids who are not mara, but balam. The key difference is her dad has never fallen in love with a human, so is hugely prejudiced against them. 

Obviously one big difference is the fact that Mystery Loves Company was not set up by the Amaru family so it is not a supernatural bookstore in Ashkent River. The alternate version is called Reece’s Reads, run by a gentle old man who is completely in denial about Ashkent. So that’s going to be a thing.

I don’t know else to say. Yay for not existing in an alt universe?

[veronicatheslayer]

Challenge: Veronica In Ashford River

VERSION: I play Ashkent Creek Dimension Veronica, so this information is about Ashford River Dimension Veronica.

NAME/NICKNAMES: Veronica Babineaux / Veri (by close friends and family)

SPECIES: Human (Slayer)

HOMETOWN: Born and bred in Ashford River.

TOWN STANDING/JOB: She doesn’t really have a traditional job, this is because she doesn’t need too have one. She is rich enough to get by without a job because of her parents. However she roughly splits her time between being an heiress and being a slayer.

Veronica runs lots of charitable events, mainly around the church which they helped to build. But she is also known to throw big extravagant parties which she invites the whole town to!

They are also a Slayer, but not a very good one. Other than that they are an heiress but they don’t really turn up to many functions (mainly because their parents don’t want them around because Veronica is pretty embarrassing as a slayer), they challenge lots of vampires to duels and sometimes they win them, but against an experienced opponent they mostly lose.

SUPERNATURAL INVOLVEMENT: They are a real expert in Vampire and Slayer lore. They know almost everything in terms of what vampires can do, the types of vampires, the ways to kill them, their strengths and their weaknesses. They spend a lot of time studying this because they think it will help them to be a better slayer.

They have some rough knowledge of the supernatural outside of that of Slayers and Vamps, but it is rudimentary and lacking.

PERSONALITY: In contrast to Ashkent Creek Dimension Veronica, Ashford River Dimension Veronica is not calm under pressure, this is because she isn’t as capable a slayer as she is in Ashkent Creek. In Ashkent Creek, Veronica is calm because she is so capable, in Ashford River despite her enthusiasm, she panics in duels if she thinks it is going poorly.

FAMILY: 

Father: Antoine Babineaux - deceased in the Ashkent Creek Universe, but has been brought across to the Ashkent Creek Universe from the Ashford River Universe.

Mother: Patricia Babineaux - deceased in the Ashkent Creek Universe, but has been brought across to the Ashkent Creek Universe from the Ashford River Universe.

Brother: Adrien Babineaux - deceased in Ashcroft River Universe, a half sibling of Esme and Veronica in the Ashkent Creek Universe. Antoine is the father, he does not know his mother.

Sister: Esme Babineaux - deceased in Ashcroft River Universe, also a half sibling of Adrien and Veronica in the Ashcroft River Universe. Patricia is her mother, she does not know her father.

BACKSTORY SUMMARY: 

In the Ashford River universe, Adrien was born as a full member of the Babineaux family, whilst Esme was a little indiscretion that Patricia Babineaux indulged in. They kept the child, yet Esme always felt out of place. Unwanted. Unloved. Though she was legitimized and ‘accepted’ into the family, she never felt wanted and with her brother Adrien they came up with a plan to rid themselves of their parents and split their wealth evenly. 

Veronica was born before the plan could be put into action, yet she was not the slayer that she is in Ashkent Creek’s universe. She lacked the innate talent that she should have been born with, and no matter how hard she tried, she could never quite get a hang of slaying. Her parents however didn’t seem to care too much, sure she was a little embarrassing but Adrien and Esme were in line to inherit the title of the Babineaux family before her and they were proper slayers. Veronica could go about her life however she wanted. Her parents mostly ignored her.

That was until Esme and Adrien tried to put their plan into action, except something went wrong and the two siblings were killed instead of their parents. Leaving Veronica as Patricia and Antoine’s only child and the heiress to the family fortune. She was a source of shame and embarrassment to her parents and for the most part they tried to shut her away from the slayer world, she wasn’t very good at it and they didn’t want to risk her life.

They let her do her own thing, which for Veronica who was heavily religious, was building a church and donating great amounts of money to them. She named it the Church of Iron, a reference to the body builders who helped her build it. Currently, Veronica’s parents are trying to marry her off to any eligible slayer, something which she is trying to avoid.

DIFFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:

Veronica is highly religious (Roman Catholic) and as a result doesn’t actively seek relationships with girls, in fact she for the most part has accepted the attraction for what it is but does not act on it.

She has little interest in getting married, despite her parents pleas, and devotes her time to the church.

In Ashford River, Veronica is a pretty poor slayer. In terms of natural abilities she is a normal, healthy slayer. She has good knowledge of Vampire’s and how to kill them. However in practice she is nowhere near as skilled as her Ashkent Creek counterpart. 

Both of Veronica’s dead parents have been replaced by the AR versions of her parents. They’re going to be very confused when they discover that Adrien and Esme are still alive in this universe, not to mention that Veronica is a very skilled slayer in the Ashkent Universe.

In Ashkent Creek, Veronica has a gym (the church of Iron), in Ashford River, in the exact spot where her gym is, there is a literal church that Veronica raised funds for / donated and helped to build.

[blancheharlow]

~TOS Challenge 1~

What is your character’s full name and Date of Birth?

Blanche Louise Harlow. June 19th, 1999.

What is your character’s involvement with the supernatural?

Blanche is a medium—her gift has her see ghosts completely and she can hear and talk with them. She also has the ghost of her Great Grandma Blanche following her around.

If your character is another species or otherwise involved with the supernatural, who knows?

Nora. Because she can see Granny and other ghosts.

Who do they know is involved in the supernatural or a species other than human?

No one at the moment!

If your character could be another species, which would they pick and why?

She’s stay a human, but without the whole medium thing. She doesn’t like it and it makes her uncomfortable—Blanche gets so distracted so easily.

What is your character’s place of work/education?

The high school. She doesn’t have a part time job as of yet.

Did your character grow up in Ashkent Creek? If not, where are they from?

The Harlow family moved to Ashkent Creek from Boston, MA when she was 5. Since then she’s lived in the big house by the shore.

How does your character feel about Ashkent Creek?

Indifferent really. Too many ghosts around and it gets really awkward and hard to ignore when they realize she can see them.

Does your character have any distinguishing marks, piercings, tattoos, scars etc?

She will eventually have an anti-possession tattoo on her left side.

How does your character usually dress?

Blanche wears leggings more than she wears jeans with long shirts and has a collection of scarves and shoes. You’ll also see her in dresses and tights and things like that—mostly because her grandma really does like to prod and tell her what she should be wearing.

In the summer you’ll see her in shorts and stuff, but never anything that shows too much skin. Her granny has made her a little too self-conscious for that.

What are some of your character’s hobbies? What kind of places in Ashkent Creek do they like to go during their downtime?

Blanche likes to read. She reads primarily mysteries and crime novels (sorry Regan), but will also binge some of those corny YA romance novels if she’s really feeling it. Her granny drives her up the wall when she’s trying to read, trying to gossip and stuff like that.

She also really likes doing math. Blanche is good at it and really likes doing math problems. She mostly likes it because she’s good at it, but it’s also a good way to distract herself from some of the ghost she sees. It’s easier to tune them (and her grandma) out.

Honestly, she’ll go anywhere in Ashkent Creek where it’s quiet. She likes quiet and she likes not being around spirits.

[openbook-izel]

Rash Decisions For Adepts || Solo

So please, let me do something about this before succumbing to leaving my home.

I’m going to stay. Try to get as many people out as I can.

Yeah. I’m not leaving, if that’s what you’re asking.

Goodbye. Not like averting the nigh in the end is nigh, or making preparations is a priority. Or picking up everyone who can’t orwon’t run, and carrying them out on your shoulders.

I, uh, I don’t really have anywhere better to go so I was sort of planning on seeing it through. 

Her hands trembled as she looked down at the messages on her phone. The only messages that hurt more than her friends telling her they were going to stay were the ones that implied they had known a while. A punch to the gut that they hadn’t wanted to warn her in the same way she’d wanted to warn them. But none of that mattered now, it was in the past. They were going. Andris had gone to home after home after home, offering nightmares as incentives to leave and showing parents their worst nightmares in case they didn’t. Izel had sent messages and emails to dozens of people, had run down the entire street and knocked on every door, frantically warning anyone who answered.

Despite what Jared said, Izel wasn’t sure there was anything that could be done to stop whatever was coming. There just couldn’t be. The night hung around them in the middle of the day, midnight sun nowhere to be seen. A threat. If something could change where the sun was in the sky, what could anyone on earth hope to do to change it?

So instead she prayed. As they prepared, in between warnings, as she wrote to friends she might not see again. She prayed as she went to meet Ana for a final hug, prayed on the drive back. In her head, out loud, and sometimes in a reassuring song, something to soothe those killer nerves.

She was praying right now, as she watched her mom ruffle her brother’s hair. They’d agreed - with the warning out, the roads would be packed. It wasn’t safe to stall any longer, and while all three of them wanted to stay and warn others, they all knew.

But it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that she had to choose her family over her family, nor was it fair that this situation existed in the first place. People were dying. They were going to die in droves, no matter how many left. Others wouldn’t get out in time. More would be stopped and attacked like at the bus station.

Every second, Izel considered staying. Every second, she reminded herself of Andris. 

Mom finished locking up the house. Izel met Andris’ gaze, and he flashed her one of his winning smiles. The kind he only pulled out when he was afraid. Before he could even splutter a protest, she pulled him into a hard hug, then wordlessly gestured for him to get into the car first.

Tick Tick Tick

“Do you hear that?” Andris asked Izel as he fastened his seatbelt. She had one foot in the car, one foot on the ground, staring up at the sky.

Tick Tick tick

Her tongue clicked in her mouth. Karen. Karen who she’d tried to warn to get out, who she’d failed to reach on her mobile today. 

tick... tick... tick.

It was close. She could distantly hear her mother yelling at her to get in the car. In the dark, she couldn’t see anything, not even a passing shadow. But she could hear it.

tick... tick Tick

She couldn’t leave. Not her friends, not the people down the street who thought they could protect themselves by covering the windows with plywood, not the hundreds of people around town she’d grown up with who probably still wouldn’t got. 

She couldn’t leave when she’d promised herself that Karen’s child would be born safe. 

She barely remembered the argument with Andris, only that her hand stung from hitting the side of the car to encourage them to go, and that her voice was hoarse at the end of it. She’d pleaded instead of shouting, explained, rationalised. It took her a long time to recognise the knowing look in her mom’s eyes, that gentle understanding. Her mom had probably known before Izel had, she knew Izel better than Izel knew herself, and when she nodded, that was final.

“I’ll catch a ride with a friend after I’ve done this,” she promised. They pretended to believe her.

TICK TICK TICK

Izel pulled out her phone, her hands starting to shake as she dialled the number and pulled out her keys. There was no way she was going into this alone, and there was no way she was going in unarmed. 

“Penelope?”

[sarcasticwarden-blog]

Wave of Mutilation || Solo

                       Takes place a week after the death of Mary.

She was as much beautiful as she was disgusting. The look of true terror that lit her eyes up tiny sparks of light on a dark night guiding Ross to where he needed to be. Her mouth was occupied by a balled up and unclean rag, her arms and fused together legs bound to a rickety old wooden chair that had been awaiting them when the young warden had dragged her unconscious body to the abandoned warehouse they now occupied. His family couldn’t know what he doing, it would surely be frowned upon, but Mary deserved to be avenged in some form. He was the only one still functioning well enough to act this out.

He stood before her with a thousand yard stare and menacing smirk plastered onto his colorless face. Lithe arms were draped flaccidly on either side of his torso. Ross’s right hand gripped the iron dagger that Mary had used many times before in battle so hard that the handle left an imprint in his skin. He almost felt bad-- she was supposed to be buried with the blade, but she would approve of what he was going to use it for, right? She had to. She had to.

Ross took a step forward and the Nix flinched as best it could despite how tightly it was bound. The boy scoffed, pleased with himself and ashamed of his prey, before tugging at the rag and pulling it out of her mouth. She was young, wasn’t she? She didn’t put up much of a fight. He bent down so that they were at eye level with each other.

“Why don’t you sing for me?” His voice was devoid of inflection as his empty green eyes stared into her large, fish-like pair. “I want to hear a song.” He commanded softly but was only met with silence. Previously devoid of emotion, his eyes flashed with anger and his right hand found itself pressing the iron blade against her scaly skin. “Sing for me, goddammit!” He insisted loudly which made tears begin to roll down the fae’s face.

The nix finally complied and began to quietly sing an unfamiliar song in Gaelic. A satisfied grin appeared on his face as he stepped back from her once more. He was allowing himself to revel in the way that her voice shook with every note. It was obvious that she knew she wouldn’t be making it out of this building alive and the feeling was indescribable. Ross’s chest heaved as sadness began to mix with ecstasy due to memories of Mary filling his mind. Her bloated corpse and the satisfied expression on the face of the nix they had faced that day. He could have done more. He should have done more. He was a failure.

“Enough!” The singing stopped and the silence that followed was painful and tense. “What do you want from me?” Her voice came out as a fearful squeak. To be the one who caused such intense emotion-- what a beautiful feeling. “I want everything.” He moved closer to the nix once more though now there was that odd sadness glazed over his eyes. “I want to watch you die. I want to be the reason you die. I want to watch the lights in your eyes go out like candles. I want you to beg for mercy.” The corners of his lips curled upwards into a sick smile that nauseated the fae. She was speechless though her mouth was open. “I want to be the last thing you think of before I release you. Doesn’t that sound beautiful?” It certainly did to Ross.

The blade was raised once more but, this time, to her face to make a shallow cut on her cheek. The screech that erupted from her throat was more than satisfying as Ross thanked God for iron and the fae’s weakness to it. He knew now that he would not be returning home tonight-- no, he would be busy seeing how long he could keep her alive and still hear make her scream.

“This is for you, Mary.”