#Esther Apprentice

[shierak-inavva]

magical mystery solvers // 2023 / 2021

wanted to do a redraw of these -- one day i'd love to do more with these three 😭

[deconstructthesoup]

Of course I can't just drop an idea into the void and then scamper off for other people to do something with it---I have to do it myself. So, feast your eyes on the DBD fantasy AU:

Edwin is a bookish prince with a love of mysteries and a keen sense of justice, which is a useful trait to have when your kingdom has a habit of letting people fall between the cracks. However, his habit of sneaking out into the kingdom to "assist" the royal guards with cases has gotten him into trouble... specifically, the accidentally-got-captured-by-a-demon-and-was-stuck-in-the-demon-realm-for-a-bit kind of trouble. Because of this, he's been assigned his own personal knight to stick with him at all times---but thankfully, Edwin's new shadow might be more rebellious than he seems...

Charles has only recently been knighted, and got assigned to Edwin due to the fact that they're similar in age and Edwin doesn't have a lot of friends. He got put on the path to knighthood because his father thought it'd be a good way for him to "man up," but surprisingly enough, he actually enjoys being a sword-fighting protector of the realm, even if the other knights have a tendency to be pricks. And Charles is more than happy to help Edwin do some clandestine detective work---hey, as long as he's sticking by him and making sure he doesn't get hurt, he's fulfilling his duties.

Niko is the princess of the neighboring kingdom, and she and Edwin are set to be married when they turn twenty-one---which both of them are fairly fine with, because despite the fact that they're both gay, they've been best friends since they were kids and know full well that it could very well be worse. Ever since her father died, she's been fairly withdrawn and lost, and has retreated even further into her love of books to keep her distracted. But even her newfound isolationist tendencies didn't keep her from briefly contracting a curse when she came into contact with an old magical artifact... a curse that was thankfully broken by her own personal bodyguard-slash-attendant.

Crystal is a recent graduate of a prestigious wizarding academy, and until her final year, she mostly skated by on average grades and the money of her noble parents. However, the summer before her final year, she summoned a demon on a dare, fell for him, and allowed him to possess her... and the experience not only briefly left her with holes in her memory, but was generally a wake-up call to how reckless she was with her magic. Over the following months, she applied herself to her wizardly studies, and got good to the point where she was called in to help cure Niko of a mysterious, multicolored curse that was afflicting her---and once Crystal succeeded, she was immediately handed a position as the junior court mage and Niko's primary attendant. Luckily, the two of them actually wound up getting along pretty fast.

My ideas for the others aren't as thought out, but I'll give you the basics:

Jenny works as the head cook in Niko's palace, and pretty much everybody knows not to mess with her. She's the person who Niko usually goes to for advice, despite the fact that she's really trying to not give off "mom friend" vibes.

The Night Nurse is the royal advisor to Edwin's parents, and is the one who's in charge of the majority of his schooling and general upbringing. While she's incredibly strict, she's still much more present than his actual parents are, and she's kind of unintentionally become his adoptive mom. She'll deny this if you ask her.

Esther is still a scheming witch who's pretty much always up to no good---maybe she's living in a village, maybe she's actually living in the palace as Crystal's mentor, I haven't decided yet---but Monty is her actual son and apprentice who simply has the ability to transform into a crow. And he... needs help.

The Cat King is a fey who Edwin met on a case. They meet up when they can and make out sometimes, though it's strictly a friends-with-benefits situation. He gives Edwin terrible advice on how to talk to boys.

[come-hell-or-high-water]

One day Ruben came home from the neighboring town much later than usual. Esther grew worried and nervously awaited his arrival, but when he returned it turned out he had good news to share.

"I have great news," he said and couldn't hold back his excitement. "An old man who works as a carpenter took pity on me and offered me a job as his apprentice. It's not much pay, but at least it's something." Esther could hardly believe it. After years of hardly getting by, Ruben finally had a job. With great relief she celebrated with her husband in the living room. This would certainly make things much easier for them in the future.

Later in the evening when all the children were asleep, they lay in bed together. The house was completely quiet for once and they both felt at peace and optimistic about the future. "I have news to tell you as well," Esther said and looked up at Ruben. "I'm pregnant again."

The couple united in a kiss and this time another child just felt like a blessing without any of the previous worries that had weighed on them.

[shinyshade8026]

what’s the royal au? :3

HEHHEHA

The Royal AU is well, a Royal AU!

V is a princess by the name of Vale

S is a servent named Shiloh

E is a maid named Esther who works with Shiloh

J is Vale's best friend named Jay/Jaylyn

N is a prince from another kingdom named Nathan

and Uzi is a knight's apprentice!

Vale is supposed to marry Nathan to make an alliance, but she's never felt an attraction towards guys before/love in general yet, and she doesn't want to be forced to marry someone

Shiloh is crushing over Vale, and it does not get any better when the the two become friends :D

There is so much more but that would be spoilers, hm?

[girlactionfigure]

William Herskovic was a Czech Jew who escaped from Auschwitz to warn the Jewish community that the so-called “labor camp” was actually a mass murder machine where thousands of Jews – including his wife and two babies – were being gassed to death every day. His eyewitness testimony saved hundreds of lives.

Born in Hungary in 1914, William’s mother died when he was an infant. His father remarried and had many more kids while William was raised by his maternal grandparents. William was an exceptional young man. He spoke 9 languages and dropped out of school at age 13 to help his family by working as photographer’s apprentice.

By 15 William was managing multiple photo studios in Czechoslovakia, supervising the work of adult photographers.

The family moved to Antwerp, Belgium, where William opened Studio Willy, a camera store and portrait studio. It was such a success that he opened multiple Studios Willy. Around 1937 William got married and he and his wife Esther had two daughters – Giselle, born in 1938, and Germaine, born in 1941.

After Germany invaded Belgium in 1940, the Nazis confiscated William’s studios and all his photographic equipment. William was arrested along with Esther and their daughters – one a newborn and the other a toddler . All four were sent to Auschwitz, where Willam was separated from his family and sent to do hard labor. He never saw his wife and daughters again. Only years later would he learn that they were gassed the same day they arrived.

At Auschwitz, William was forced to do back-breaking labor and subsisted on a starvation diet. He began plotting his escape. On the first night of Chanukah 1942, a frigid, snowy night, William and two other men cut through a barbed wire fence. William was motivated by more than the desire to live – he was desperate to get the word out to Jewish communities in Europe that Auschwitz was not a mere detention camp but a mass murder factory.

Emaciated, and in rags they made their way through the forest in the middle of a blizzard. They jumped onto a freight train that took them to Breslau, Germany. There, the escapees found a local rabbi and started to tell them about Auschwitz, but he refused to listen and kicked them out. This disturbing episode haunted William for decades. His daughter Patricia later said, “It was as if [the rabbi] had no heart, and still today, my father hopes that in his particular case, it was simply fear.”

William and the other escapees kept moving for three weeks, staying alive as they traveled through Nazi-occupied Europe. Their travel was funded by William’s shoe – or more precisely, the 3-carat diamond that a shoemaker had embedded in his heel.

Finally, they reached Belgium and William reached out to the newly-formed Belgian resistance, providing one of the first eyewitness accounts of a Nazi death camp. He said, “They are killing us by the thousands. Do not go peacefully…” Unlike the willfully blind rabbi in Breslau, the Belgian resistance took William’s report seriously. They mobilized to stop a transport train headed to Auschwitz, placing bricks on the tracks to force the train to stop. In the chaos, William and the other escapees forced open the cargo doors and about 250 Jews escaped.

William’s survival and brave determination to bear witness had saved hundreds of Jews from the gas chambers.

For the next three years, William stayed alive in Belgium, moving between several hiding places. He continued to work with the Belgian resistance. He went undercover with false papers and got a job camouflaging the beaches of Normandy, when he was actually drawing sketches of military installations to give to the resistance.

In 1945, when the war ended, he learned the tragic fate of Esther and their two darling babies. Esther’s younger sister Mireille survived but didn’t know what had happened to her husband. William put her on a train to find him, saying, “If he’s not alive when you get there, I want you to marry me.”

William and Mireille were married in a displaced persons camp in 1945. For the rest of his life, William kept a small picture of Esther in his wallet.

After the war, William reestablished Studio Willy, and he and Mireille had three daughters. In the late 1950’s they immigrated to America, settling in Los Angeles, where William founded Bel Air Camera, which was an LA institution for decades. According to his daughter Patricia, although he owned a popular camera company, he stopped taking any pictures himself. “He never wanted to be an artist again. The things he saw – his artist’s soul was pretty tromped on.”

The Herskovics were dedicated philanthropists and supported many educational and medical institutions. William was a founding supporter of the US Museum of the Holocaust in Washington DC, where a plaque commemorates his beloved first wife and their two innocent babies, who never had the benefit of gravestones.

William died in 2006 at age 91. He was survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. William was eulogized by luminaries such as Rabbi Marvin Hier and California Gray Davis but it was William’s family that missed him the most. Grandson James Freedman remembered, “My grandfather was the best man I ever knew. He taught me the most important lessons of my life. He taught me how to be a good, decent person, and his unwavering faith in me gives me strength.” Daughter Micheline Keller said, “Our father epitomized the ideals of a righteous man – honesty, wisdom, and love for all humanity.” Daughter Patricia wrote a book called “Escape to Life: A Journey Through the Holocaust” about her parents’ experiences in World War II. The book meant a great deal to William. Patricia said “He had made a commitment to those in the camps to never let them be forgotten. With the book, he started to feel he had fulfilled some of that promise.”

For bearing witness to genocide and saving lives, we honor William Herskovic as this week’s Thursday Hero.

[sweet-sweet-petunia]

Mariah's Star of Christmas Verses

Canon

Bob the Tomato as Cavis Appythart - You know. The main guy. Cavis is a playwright who wants his legacy to be more than his turtle wax jingle - he wants to put on a show that teaches London to love! Gets carried away, burns down Milward's Uncles theatre in the process, you remember. You've watched it.

Dad Asparagus as Reverend Gilbert - The pastor of the church that's putting on the play that will showcase the famed Star. Has a son, Edmund, who's sickly, but tries to not let it show.

Archibald Asparagus as Arthur Hollingshead - Reporter for the London Post Gazette. Infodumps about historical decorative items at a moment's notice. Noticeably more British than others despite them all living in England.

Jerry Gourd as Constable Dwight - Police Officer who works at the station currently holding Charles Pincher. May or may not be related to that gourd starring opposite Effie Pickering in Appythart and Phelps's newest production

Non Canon

Petunia Rhubarb as Daphne Woodbridge - Another reporter for the London Post Gazette. Especially interested in who that other man in the rocket carriage was as the playwrights, Gilbert and Son flew into the theatre. She thinks it will be her big break. Perhaps...(Cavis voice)...her first big break?

Esther as Evelyn Clarke - Just a sweet young woman going caroling for the holidays. Attends the church Reverend Gilbert preaches at.

Francois Blueberry as Pierre Pickering - A french little blueberry boy who wants to be a famous playwright and director! Is hoping to apprentice for Cavis and maybe even work on the show with the famous Effie Pickering...for no particular reason...

[healerqueen]

50 Favorite Children’s Books

Inspired by Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki’s list of his earliest literary influences. This list is limited to books I read in childhood or youth. 50 Childhood Favorites

Caddie Woodlawn and sequel by Carol Ryrie Brink

Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, and sequels by Elizabeth Enright

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Derwood, Inc. by Jeri Massi

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Heidi by Joanna Spyri

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Family Grandstand by Carol Ryrie Brink

Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink

Cheaper By the Dozen and sequel by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Rebecca’s War by Ann Finlayson

The Lost Baron by Allen French

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

Captive Treasure by Milly Howard

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

Silver for General Washington by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft

Emil’s Pranks by Astrid Lindgren

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Freddy the Detective and Freddy the Pig series by Walter R. Brooks

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Robert Lawson

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

The Bridge and Crown and Jewel by Jeri Massi

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Young Adult:

The Eagle of the Ninth and other books by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Buffalo Brenda by Jill Pinkwater

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (a nonfiction memoir)

Picture Books:

Make Way for Ducklings and other books by Robert McCloskey

Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman

Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman

Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner

Ice-Cream Larry by Daniel Pinkwater

Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant

Discovered as an Adult: Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye

The Armourer’s House by Rosemary Sutcliff

Urchin of the Riding Stars and the Mistmantle Chronicles by M.I. McAllister

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Escape to West Berlin by Maurine F. Dahlberg

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan

The Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan

Courage in Her Hands by Iris Noble

Knight’s Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

Victory at Valmy (Thunder of Valmy) by Geoffrey Trease

Word to Caesar (Message to Hadrian) by Geoffrey Trease

The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo

Seventh City by Emily Hayse

Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus

Valiant by Sarah McGuire

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

[steelbluehome]

"Stan, who is also great in the upcoming A Different Man, plays Trump as a nervous nobody being crushed under the weight of his father’s thumb"

The Daily Beast

The Scandalous Trump Movie at Cannes Could Be an Oscar Contender (Really!) (click for article)

MAKE MOVIES GREAT AGAIN

Esther Zuckerman

Published May 20, 2024

4:41 PM EDT

One of the scariest moments in a film this year will invariably belong to Jeremy Strong.

Early into The Apprentice, the new film about Donald Trump’s rise that premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival, Strong, playing notorious lawyer Roy Cohn, takes Trump, played by Sebastian Stan, into the room where he secretly records phone calls. With darkness behind in his intense eyes, Strong, as Cohn, tells Trump about how he orchestrated the death penalty for Ethel Rosenberg, the convicted Soviet spy. He explains how while others argued that her life should be saved because she was a mother, he disagreed. “She betrayed our country and she has to die,” he says, with no remorse. It feels like evil incarnate leaping off the screen.

Strong’s work is another master class from the Succession star, currently on his way to a Tony for An Enemy of the People on Broadway. It feels like one of the first performances of this year’s Cannes that has true Oscar potential. That is, if the entire prospect of this movie doesn't scare people away.

For what it’s worth, The Apprentice isn’t all that shocking. Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by journalist Gabriel Sherman it tells the story of Trump’s rise in 1970s and ’80s New York through the prism of his relationship with Cohn. Nothing in here is particularly revelatory, even with the upsetting sequence that features Trump raping his then wife (Maria Bakalova) at their home. (Ivana later said: “As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”)

The Apprentice is an attempt to dig into the psyche of the man who became president—and is now running again—during his nascent years, and it’s in Strong and Stan’s portrayals that we begin to see something that hasn’t been rehashed time and time again.

Cohn inducts him into his world, taking on the housing discrimination case against Trump and his dad. Cohn teaches him his rules of life, which eventually became Trump’s own playbook: Attack, deny, and don’t admit defeat. Strong inhabits Cohn unapologetic bullishness, and his many contradictions, including his sexuality, which he doesn’t hide around his confidants. And the young Trump doesn’t care that he witnesses Cohn having sex with a man, because Cohn gets him what he wants.

The film begins with something almost like a meet-cute between Trump and Cohn across the room at Le Club, the private venue that both of them used to frequent. With his sunken eyes, Strong's Cohn seems to bore into Trump with his gaze. These early moments of their courtship is where the film is at its strongest. Stan, who is also great in the upcoming A Different Man, plays Trump as a nervous nobody being crushed under the weight of his father’s thumb. He’s a beleaguered dork who thinks he’s somebody. You can hear some of those all too familiar inflections in his voice, but the braggadociousness is still mild, the strange turns of phrases only appearing every so often.

As the plot jumps ahead to the ’80s, we see their power dynamic shift. Stan slowly morphs into a more recognizable version of the man, his hair growing thinner, his belly increasing, and his ego growing out of control. Meanwhile, Cohn weakens, his body faltering under the AIDS diagnosis he tried to keep a secret and his power waning with a massive IRS suit.

The movie falters whenever this relationship recedes into the rearview, and the script can be painfully obvious, especially in the second half. We don’t really need to be told about the way in which Trump’s marriage to Ivana fell apart, nor do we need to see how Roger Stone (Mark Rendall) told him about Ronald Reagan’s “Let’s Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. (That scene in particular is an eye roller.) But whenever Stan and Strong are on screen together, The Apprentice can be magnetic, two actors at the top of their game trying to locate the malevolent soul of these public figures.

Right now it’s unclear when exactly The Apprentice will be released. It currently does not have U.S. distribution, a notion that likely remains daunting given the subject matter. Regardless, it’s unlikely to be much of an election game changer should it come before November given that the material is well-tread, but if it enters the Oscar race, Strong and Stan could very well make a showing.

[kemetic-dreams]

Rev. Dr. William J. Simmons was born a slave in Charleston, South Carolina, to Edward and Esther Simmons on June 29, 1849. While William was young, his Mother fled slavery with her three children, William and his two sisters Emeline and Anna. They initially landed in Philadelphia, PA, and was met by an uncle named Alexander Tardiff, who housed them, fed them and educated the children. Due to stemming pressures from slave traders, Tardiff relocated his extended family to Roxbury, Pennsylvania, Chester, PA, and ultimately settled down in Bordentown, New Jersey. Tardiff had received an education from the future Bishop Daniel Payne and undertook to give Simmons and his siblings an education on that basis. From 1862 to 1864 William served as an apprentice to a dentist. He served in the Union Army during the US Civil War, enlisting September 15, 1864 and serving a one-year term. He took part in the siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Hatcher's Run, and the Battle of Appomattox Court House and was present at the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. After the war, he returned to dentistry. In 1867, he converted to Baptist and joined a White Baptist church in Bordentown that was pastored by Reverend J. W. Custis. The congregation helped him through college. He attended Madison University (now Colgate University, graduated in 1868), Rochester University, and Howard University, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1873. As a student, he worked briefly in Washington D.C. at Hillsdale School. In Hillsdale, he boarded with Smithsonian Institution employee, Solomon G. Brown. After graduating he moved to Arkansas on the advice of Horace Greeley to become a teacher there, but returned to Hillsdale soon after where he taught until June 1874.

The following summer, he married Josephine A. Silence on August 25, 1874 and moved to Ocala, Florida. The couple had seven children, Josephine Lavinia, William Johnson, Maud Marie, Amanda Moss, Mary Beatrice, John Thomas, and Gussie Lewis. In Florida, he invested in land to grow oranges, became principal of Howard Academy's teacher training program and served as the pastor of a church, deputy county clerk and county commissioner. He campaigned for the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. He served there until 1879. He was ordained that year and moved to Lexington, Kentucky where he pastored the First Baptist Church. The following year, he became the second president of the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute, which he worked for a decade. The school was eventually renamed the State University of Louisville and later to Simmons College of Kentucky after Simmons due to schools progression under his tenure. He was succeeded in 1894 at Simmons College by Charles L. Purce.

In Kentucky he was elected for several years the chairman of the State Convention of Colored Men. On September 29, 1882, he was elected editor of the journal, the American Baptist where he criticized the failures of both political parties to support blacks in their civil rights and progress. He was also president of the American Baptist Company. in 1886 he was elected over T. Thomas Fortune to president of the Colored Press Association, having lost to W. A. Pledger the previous year. In 1883, Simmons organized the Baptist Women's Educational Convention, and in 1884, Blanche Bruce appointed Simmons commissioner for the state of Kentucky at the 1884 World's Fair in New Orleans. In 1886, he organized and was elected president of the American National Baptist Convention. The convention was a call for African American Baptist unity and was also led by Richard DeBaptiste and featured notable presentations by Solomon T. Clanton and James T. White. In 1889 in Indianapolis, Simmons was a leader at the American National Baptist Convention and wrote a resolution to provide aid for blacks fleeing violence in the South and moving to the North.

Simmons received an honorary master's degree from Howard University in 1881 and an honorary Doctorate degree from Wilberforce University in 1885. In 1887, he published a book entitled Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising, which highlights the lives of 172 prominent African-American men, while serving as the school's president. He was working on a sister edition of the title that would highlight the lives and accomplishments of prominent pre-1900 African-American women, but unfortunately died before its completion. He died on October 30, 1890, in Louisville, Kentucky.

[funnygirlthatbelle]

 Because @jadesabre301 enables me in the best ways possible, here’s perhaps far too many details about the college au aka the good timeline and how we want things to go down post campaign as the happily ever after for Parci and Breena.

Since the kids are all currently in high school, the relevant info begins when they all finally get to college since the guys are slightly older* and the girls get to the capital as well. They’re all living in the same apartment building with two apartments across from one another**. Breena enters college with a boyfriend named Xavier- a guy who went to another school in town and is a fellow incoming freshman. Close to the end of their first semester, Breena discovers that he is cheating on her. And to add insult to injury, she forgot her keys and is locked out of her apartment sobbing, only to be discovered by the one and only Parcival Valerian Lurin Harnell Sopral von Meer aka Parci aka one of the most important people in her entire life. He’s exceptionally sweet even for him and in the days after this, Breena’s thoughts morph from “I’d like to date someone like Parci” to “I’d like to date Parci.” Meanwhile, Parci realizes that his affections towards Breena are less platonic than he’s thought in the past.

This begins what is known as the Year of Pining. Esther knows how Parci feels. Ezekiel knows how Breena feels. Parci spends the entire summer break on top of a mountain communing with a ghost so that he doesn’t have to see or talk to anyone. The mutual pining is off the charts.

It takes until the next year’s winter solstice when, after much pressure from Esther, Parci asks Breena to his father’s company’s*** winter gala. She accepts, and by the time classes resume, they are a couple! They date for the rest of the time they’re in college and it’s a grand old time- Parci gets his masters at the same time Breena gets her bachelors that’s like a triple major and a minor because she genuinely couldn’t decide between multiple earth sciences and also photography.

As they’re discussing what comes next and what Parci’s phd track might look like, he gets invited by a wizard they know from their adventures to apprentice for a year. It’s a wonderful opportunity with two major problems: one, Breena just got her dream job as a wildlife photographer for Fosbian Geographic**** and absolutely does not want to give that up and two, the apprenticeship would be in Breena’s childhood hometown where there is boatloads of trauma and also her mother*****. So they go long distance for a bit, and it sucks. During this time, Breena realizes that this is who she wants to spend the rest of her life with****** and so they start building their lives with that goal in mind.

Fifteen years post-campaign and ten years into their relationship, they get married at the summer camp where they met. It’s very cute but also we’re talking about possibly making changes to that fic so i’m not gonna go into detail here.

About five years later, Mal and Ezekiel’s daughter Amelia Precious Thompson is born- specifically, she is born with the inherent magic one might expect from the daughter of a dragon. So, naturally, as the relative with counterspell, Uncle Parci becomes the babysitter of choice*******. And being around a baby often makes them start considering expanding their own family, though it takes them a while to make any decisions and a bit longer for any results to occur.

But when they do, Salvator Finian Leroy von Meer is born! His birthday is March 9th, he has his mama’s skintone and hair color (though his father’s green eyes and gills), and is a nerd even in a family of nerds. He very much takes after his father personality wise and has interests in magic and robotics.

Two years later on October 25th, Mavis Abigail Esther von Meer is born! She looks more like a sea elf than her brother (though no gills), but more than her parents, takes after her Aunt Esther. Which is to say, she’s a goth with a strong sense of justice and an even more complicated relationship with capitalism than her father********.

And then, three years later, in a pregnancy so bad that any thought of other children was immediately gone came the twins Guinevere Selena Eleanor von Meer and Celza Morgana Ziva von Meer*********. born on June 13th, they are a 50/50 split between looking like each parent. Behavior wise, it’s an entirely different story. Gwen is a shy, sweet nature lover like her mama. Celza is as chaotic as she is intelligent, and her punk phase never really ends- not entirely dissimilar to Aunt Mal.

I could go on and on and on about these kids and the stuff we’ve figured out about this family- sexualities, what classes each kid might pursue should they become an adventurer, a specific imagined scenario regarding Mavis’ psych class and a professor who did not think through talking about the Dunkel Hill Five in front of the daughter of two of them- I could go on forever but honestly I’m aware that this is already a lot and so I’m just gonna thank you if you actually read all of this lol.

*Mal is currently 42 in game but is also a dragon so her age is... funky, to say the least.

** At some point, Ezekiel moves out of the guys’ apartment as he becomes a ceo and Esther moves in but exact dates have never been figured out.

***Elario von Meer is wizard Walt Disney; this isn’t strictly relevant but i love the phrase wizard Walt Disney too much not to include it.

****It has been pointed out to me that there was no need to change the name of National Geographic but it’s too late I did it.

*****At some point during his apprenticeship, Parci and Breena’s mom Patricia get into a very intense, public fight at a grocery store where he’s accused of stealing Breena away from her- it gets ugly.

******She also adopts a stray old man cat with a tragic backstory named Mr. Whiskers- this is never relevant to the story but I love him with all my heart.

*******Breena is Amelia’s godmother, there is no other godparent. If anything happens, she’s going to live with the von Meer’s, but Parci and Ezekiel love to tease each other.

*********Complicated relationship with capitalism is a direct quote from his character sheet; I am not including all the things they do to fuck with capitalism in this but let’s just say they do not fuck around when it comes to philanthropy.

************In part a show of affection and in part to get the last laugh, Ezekiel is godfather to the twins.

[shierak-inavva]

doodle dump

a height comparison lineup—chima, schera, esther, daneriia (erii), elowen, persephone; a maedhros/elowen scribble, some elowen outfits from an instagram question, and el with her first pregnancy in rivendell 🥺

[farsight-the-char]

Character Write Up: Esther Maryam

The Grey-Rose Chronicles other lead, the Prodigy.

Unlike Vivian, no tragedy drove Esther to the Grey-Rose, but a calling.

Esther was the youngest of her family, the “last kid” in her generation, an extended family of intellectuals and teachers, scientists and leaders.

Esther tried to fulfill her family legacy, but her neurodivergency and the like made it difficult to find a niche where her family wanted her. She is smart, but she had a delayed learning because of her autism.

Her family cared for her (in their own way), but she always felt alienated because of her autism and how busy her family was with jobs.

After graduating University (Engineering Degree) at 24, she started applying to different notable career paths. One of those being The Grey-Rose as one of the White-Roses (the human agents of the Grey-Rose Vampire Bloodline).

The Grey-Rose saw her potential, and were the first to contact her.

With the Grey-Rose, she found her calling in ways she never had. The structure of the organization was more accommodating then the schools, and the feedback she got was more constructive/useful.

Feeling truely at home with the Grey-Rose, she applied to become a Vampire, and was accepted.

Reciving her Blood-Kiss Ascensssion after passing the Trails of Mind/Body/Soul, she was mentored under Veteran Lord Vampire Dane Davids, a famed and essentric mentor. (She came to call him “Dad” after a few months together).

The Rules of Vampirism treated her well, and she forged her Great-Axe “Butcher’s Revelry”, completing her apprentice phase in 4 years (normally a 5 year thing) and ascending a Grey-Rose Agent.

Esther was paired with Vivian Blake as part of the “Agent of the Grey-Rose” stage. Vivian was a White Rose Nurse who’s life was struck with tragedy, and was granted Ascension so she could pursue revenge.

They get along well enough, and came to view each other as “Blood Sisters” after 7 months together.

....

Esther is a 5′ 9″ bisexual cis woman (if she was from our Earth she would be Persian). She likes Himbos and Bimbos.

Her Great-Axe mentioned, she also uses a magnum revolver and sub-machine gun (basically a p90).

She has some Vampire Magic and a specialization in teleportation magic.

...

Agents make up the bulk of the Grey-Rose forces, and is basically a buffer between “Graduated from Apprentice” and “Can take on an apprentice of their own”.

She does value Vivian as a battle-sister, a vampire, and a friend. Esther is also aware that she was made Vivian’s partner initially because Vivian is a “Special Case” and Esther was the best bet to keep Vivian from doing something tragic.

[lboogie1906]

Théodore Chassériau (September 20, 1819 - October 8, 1856) was born in El Limón, Dominican Republic, he was the son of Benoît Chassériau, a French diplomat and bureaucrat, and Maria Magdalena Couret de la Blagniére, a mulatto woman from Haiti. The family relocated to Paris.

He demonstrated an extraordinary gift for pencil drawing. By eleven years, the renowned neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres took him under his wings. The young apprentice was then tutored by the French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. He formally introduced himself to the art world with his first exhibition at the Paris Salon in 1836.

He excelled in painting nudes. His portraitures included: The Two Sisters (1843), Alexis de Tocqueville (1850), Mademoiselle de Cabarrus, and Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire. He events: Punishment of Cain, Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids (1840), Esther Preparing to be Presented to King Ahasuerus (1841), Apollo and Daphne, Arab Tribal Chiefs in Single Combat, The Tepidarium, Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches on the Heath, and Suzanne and the Old Men.

These particular places figure prominently and frequently in his paintings. He occasionally painted Black Africans, most notably Study of a Nude Negro and two portraits titled Head of a Negro. It has been suggested by scholars that his fascination with Moors, Jews, and perhaps even Africans was not only because they represented a connection to ancient times or classical culture but he was attracted to what seemed exotic as a foreign-born person.

His work is recognized across the world. Substantial museums with works by Chassériau in their collection include the Louvre (Interior of the Arab School in Constantine), Palace of Versailles (Portrait of Ali ben Ahmed), Dallas Museum of Art (Battle of Arab Horsemen Around a Standard), New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (Portrait of the Countess of La Tour Maubourg), Philadelphia Museum of Art (Portrait of Mme Borg de Balsan), and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (Portrait of Raymond de Mangnoncourt).

He was buried in the Cimetiere de Montmartre (Montmartre Cemetery). #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[tragcdysewn]

was that esther yu? oh no no, that was just xiao lanhua, a canon character from love between fairy and devil. they are one thousand years old, use she/they, and are aware that they are not actually from washington dc. too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

how long has your character been here:

almost two years now

what is your character’s job:

they work at sophie's flower shop!

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom:

between the end of the show and the epilogue. she's defeated tai sui, but is still waiting for dongfang qingcang to return

has any magic affected your character:

she was missing memories for a bit, only remembering up to her own death, and then was unaware as a result of the murder spree in june of 2023, but now has their full memories

and any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know:

xiao lanhua was born xi yun of the xilan tribe, a neutral tribe between shuiyuntian and cangyan sea. they were the goddess of xishan, and grew up for a short time under the care of her parents, who made sure she knew the responsibility and power bestowed on her to keep peace between the realms

unfortunately, lord ronghao of shuiyuntian needed the power she held to resurrect his master, and destroyed the entire xilan tribe in an attempt to get their help. xi yun's parents hid her away, transforming her into an orchid seed and sending it far away

the seed landed in shuiyuntian, near the home of the arbiter of fate, si ming. si ming planted the seed, and helped it to cultivate spiritual energy and eventually develop a human form. after some time, it did, and xi yun became the fairy xiao lanhua, with no memory of their past

she remained in arbiter hall, as si ming's apprentice, for the next thousand years, until they noticed the fate of the man they loved, changheng, the god of war, was meant to end that night. she snuck off to save him, despite knowing they shouldn't interfere in fate, and accidentally fell into the prison he was resealing

it was there she met dongfang qingcang, and unintentionally bound them together with the one heart curse, swapping their souls with an accidental kiss. they managed to switch back, and escape together before going their separate ways

they reunited when xiao lanhua was nearly killed, and he realized he would be injured if she was. he insisted they stay together for both their safety, and she hid him in their home. he imbued a bracelet with his power, to ensure they were protected even without him, and it activated in front of all of shuiyuntian, leading to her being interrogated about the escaped leader of the moon tribe

dongfang qingcang revealed himself and took them away to cangyan sea, keeping her there until he could figure out how to break the curse on them, unaware the emotions that he'd had removed as a child were returning thanks to that same curse, drawing them closer to each other

a comedy of errors ensues, including a trip to the mortal world that involved them playing both husband and wife and siblings, xiao lanhua marrying changheng side by side with dongfang qingcang marrying the god of war that defeated him, and area warlord being very upset that he does, in fact, have feelings

they both confess after barely escaping shuiyuntian soldiers, and return to cangyan sea, where xiao lanhua goes through trials to marry him and become the moon queen, as well as finally learning her true identity and trying to keep shuiyuntian from declaring war on cangyan sea

the war comes anyways, and dongfang qingcang also discovers xiao lanhua is cursed and will die if she doesn't remove the bracelet he made for them, which is bound to her because they love him. he tries to make them hate him, but fails, and she ends up killing herself to break the curse between them and save those who fell on the battlefield

he and changheng manage to resurrect her, but she comes back as xi yun, initially not remembering xiao lanhua at all. they agree to honor her engagement to changheng, even after her memories return, to defeat the evil god tai sui, even if it means her second death

dongfang qingcang tricks tai sui, locking him in his own body and ensuring he can be killed by normal means, so that xiao lanhua can survive defeating him. she does eventually kill tai sui, and dongfang qingcang with him, though she holds out hope that he can resurrect in the same way they did one day

after arriving in dc, she reunited with an unaware dongfang qingcang, and is stubbornly pushing him into remembering. they also befriended two fellow clowns, and they spur each other on in the best possible way

[opalthea]

Entry #7 : Death is Beauty. Horror is Art.

Event-based writing (for Astro Attorney), selfships. (Prompt 2, 8th Edition. 400 points, doubled to 800?)

Somewhere in Fontaine…

✧.

"... Traveler, this isn't safe, is it?" Esther muttered under her breath, stepping back to avoid getting any closer to the pool of what they called as 'The Primordial Water.' She wasn't sure if the Traveler could see it — hell, she herself couldn't believe if she was seeing this right — but the water was pure black when one used their Elemental Sight. Just like the dark of night, or the claws of sleep.

It spelled trouble. Death, for the people, and corruption for those who weren't Fontainian.

Esther wasn't one to shy away from danger, nor was she easily afraid of something that could barely harm her, for she was not a child of Fontaine, but this made her hidden feathers ruffle in discomfort. This water was claimed to be so pure, and yet, some kind of abysmal energy...

The Traveler only sighed audibly, and continued to glare at the strange water flowing upwards, like that was normal. Paimon floated about, nervously bobbing in the air. Then, she spoke, "yeah, um... Your client had really said that he wanted a taste of this- the Primordial Water, didn't he?"

Drip, drip, drip, goes the water. Every ripple became too loud for her. Every rush between the walls, too deafening.

She swallowed. "This is disturbing. Master Albedo wouldn't be happy if I continued to pursue this."

Heizou patted her back, as if smoothing out her feathers and lowering her invisible hackles. He cleared her mind off of worry with his simple touch, and stepped in front of her, as though to shield her vision from the water that clearly disturbed her.

Her heart swelled.

"I don't.. agree with this client in particular. But from what we've concluded, non-Fontainians aren't affected much by the water, yes? Aside from being sensitive to the Hydro element..."

He reached for a vial that the Traveler held up, full of the water they all seem to dread. Heizou looked on skeptically as it settled around his fingers, this vial, and took a whiff.

Smelled just like any seawater. If he had that Kaedehara's sense of smell, he'd probably be able to say it smelled of salt, or whatever poetic language that he used.

Slowly, Esther managed to swallow down all her worries, switching to a much relaxed mood with Heizou around... Not that he wasn't around earlier, but she hated thinking about that last commission- and more about that cruel serial kidnapping case of 25 young women. She shook it off like dirt on her back, and gently took his hand that had the vial to bring it closer.

Like any curious soul — and she was her master's apprentice, and a free bird — she eventually caved to wanting to inspect it closer. He allowed her. This was her right.

The colors gleamed and glowed on its own, reflecting on her softer, blue eyes. Opal-like eyes meeting water that tried to rival their beauty, or at least, Heizou seemed to think so. Her lips were pursed as she kept her busy thoughts to herself, possibly thinking of a way to complete this man's impossible request, he deduced.

She drank it immediately after - making everyone yelp in surprise. Heizou, alarmed, had been too late when he snatched the item away from her, and his face contorted to one of horror.

.. Seconds passed.

"Huh. So you really do get sensitive to the Hydro element."

The voices of the Water whispered louder at her statement. She didn't look one bit disturbed at this new discovery, and the Traveler wondered if it was because it was that easy for her to actually separate work from personal things, or if she was prepared to be negatively affected.

© faesther . Do not repost, rework, or translate any of my works.

Astro Attorney Bias Game.

[theartisalie]

Apprentice Esther

Fun Fact: She is one of four apprentices and is the MC for Portia’s route, though her story is unique.

Find out more about her siblings!

Delilah   Malek   Bane