So, I've been trying to learn how to write in Old Roman Cursive, but there seems to be many different ways to write each letter, and the sources I've been using seem to conflict on almost all of them (A is the only letter that seems to actually stay the same throughout all of them). The sources I've been using are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXWUL8ieBgE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQu2zKYdIWw
https://www.omniglot.com/writing/romancursive.htm
https://sites.dartmouth.edu/ancientbooks/2016/05/25/ancient-fonts-rustic-capitals-old-and-new-roman-cursive/
https://coriniummuseum.org/schools/resources/roman-writing/
https://www.detailedpedia.com/wiki-Roman_cursive (full image is on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_cursive )
I've also been using LLPSI to learn Latin, and the Epistula Magristrī chapter (as well as an image on p259 of some carving from Pompeii) has some Old Roman Cursive that I transcribed onto a notebook, so I have that as well to reference.
Anyway, the conflictions between all these sources has me wondering which I should rely on. The person on this 9 year old Reddit post said he used the the second link I provided, but the detailedpedia source and the first YouTube link both seem to use the same letters (the omniglot and dartmouth links also use the same letters), so that's two sources that actually agree... originally I was actually going to compare each letter with each source and use the form for the letter that the most sources used, but I don't want to accidentally mix dialects or something, and end up writing E's like I'm from Ostia while writing my P's like I'm from Pompeii, or anything like that.
Anyway, what do you guys think? How should I pick which source to rely on? Or is there other sources that are more accurate than these, that I should be looking at?
P.S. Some of the letters are even considered New Roman Cursive in some of the sources, but put under Old Roman Cursive for other sources, to make things even more confusing (e.g., the "New Roman Cursive" E in the coriniummuseum link and the third "Old Roman Cursive" E in the omniglot link are identical)
P.P.S. A couple of other sources I excluded, as I haven't actually looked into these two too deeply: https://www.reddit.com/latin/comments/f7wtc2/breakdown_of_the_cursive_used_in_ancient_roman/ https://www.reddit.com/latin/comments/ecgk4a/old_roman_cursive_variants/

This question gets asked a lot and I think for some people it's essentially all they want. They're not in actual penmanship and don't want extraordinary expertise in it. It's just the work/job they do that requires them to write sort of neatly/legibly and fast. It's like a survival skill for them.
You cannot write super fast and expect it to be looking perfect. Similarly, you cannot write super neatly and assume that you'd be able to do it quickly. A balance between the two is crucial for sufficiently good and efficient handwriting.
The solution is to stick to the basics. Simple handwriting is fast and it could be neat and clean at the same time. Handwriting doesn't have to be fancy if you are in a time limit. To be efficient, you'll need to focus only on the things that matter.
Cursive is not fast, nor is print. What you're more proficient in makes one fast over the other. It's strange that, for some people, cursive with more loops, long flourishes and more character takes less time to write than simple letter-to-letter printing. For some, print is fast no matter how fast the cursive is for others. Learning cursive is not the solution to writing faster as this advice is thrown around all the time whenever someone asks a similar question.
Another piece of advice people give is to write smaller. You still need to do the same hand movements and efforts to complete a certain letter so it won't help that much. It's not the best thing you can do to be faster.
Picking a font for inspiration isn't necessary if speed is the priority. Making your handwriting look in a certain way similar to a font takes the second place.
If you are supposed to show your written work to someone else, being illegible is something that you don't want at all.
Certain letters don't look how they should (according to the standard letter chart which everyone knows and writes/reads) which creates legibility issues.
Improving your letter formation and making them look how they're supposed to be is a perfect starting point to boost the legibility aspect of your writing.
So one of the best advice that can be given to someone who's looking to improve their fast handwriting or handwriting in general is before making it fancy/eye-pleasing, make it fundamentally perfect. Know how each letter is to be formed up to standard. You can always add a style of your choice afterwards.
Tracing worksheets/workbooks could be a great starting point for studying letter strokes and letter formation. However, you'll need to practice with more than just worksheets on your own to be a better penman.
When writing quickly you already won't have much time to reflect on how you're doing so external help like using lined paper instead of blank would be the best thing to do. Lined paper not only makes you write in a straight line but helps you to be more consistent as you're writing between two parallel lines.

I am looking for an artist to work with! (I looked for a hiring flair, but didn't see one - sorry.)
For the book, it's a YA fantasy involving magical creatures. There are also lots of geometrical marks (not really sure what to call them — think of tribal tattoos) on different groups of people that play a large role in the story that I think could be fun visually. This is less of a "Lord of the Rings" fantasy and more of a "His Dark Materials" fantasy. Just for general vibes. (If there's anywhere else I should be posting/looking please let me know!)
For the project, I'm prioritizing a book cover. Ideally though, I'd love to partner with someone who is open to doing something more collaborative. I'm thinking a book cover, but also special markings for chapters/change of perspectives, stickers, some card/print design. Ideally, ideally, there would even be some illustrations in some of the more pivotal scenes in the book. This is all dependent on pricing.
Looking for an artist has actually been the hardest part of self-publishing for me, so I admit, I'm a bit overwhelmed. So a book cover would be the minimum, but I'd really love to find someone who is open to more of a cohesive book/print experience. But I'll take what I can get!
A little about my approach so far. I've been told to use Canva or AI. That's just not the route I want to go. I really would love to get creative with someone. Full transparency so I'm not wasting anyone's time: budget is tight. So just know pricing is a big part of my decisioning as this will be my first book. Doing the best I can. Totally open to take someone with less experience that might be more affordable. But willing to talk through items and find a good spot where we're both stoked. For reference, I'm starting off with a budget for book cover alone from $500-$1k. And then other items mentioned above would be added on/discussed from there.
Things I like/Catch my eye:

1. I think 90% of the time showing human characters on a cover can look corny. 10% of the time, it can be amazing.
2. I don't love super busy covers.
3. Not a fan of super curly/cursive font.
4. I like artists with really distinct styles that stand out and will choose them over someone who can make what's popular now. (I'm considering A/B testing two covers - one more original and one that is more "on trend".
5. Love someone with opinions and preferences on how things should be done.
6. If an artist can do book design/layout too, that's a plus.

Please comment with information about yourself or let me know if you have any questions. I will look at every portfolio shared and reach out from there. Please do not send me DM's. I've found whenever Inquire for an artist, I get flooded with messages with lots of work that's awesome but not super specific to what I've described above. Right now I just need to see what your work looks like and if I like it, I'll let ya know!
Thank you! I've been lurking on this channel for a bit, and already have checked out some of your work and have ya'll in my notes. Would just love to see if the description above brings out any artists that connect with the post. Thanks!

Mary's Perspective
I'm nude, with my arms tied in a binder behind my back. I'm strapped to the left roll bar of one of the Queen Of Mean's Dune Buggies, secured above and below my breasts, at the waist, above my knees, and at my ankles to the roll bar with the sturdy but supple leather bindings her crew uses.
I'm panel gagged and hooded with a bondage ski mask. To the credit of the Queen Of Mean's crew, in concession to the hot day, it's a light, black canvas. Still holds the heat in, I miserably try to blink the sweat running down my face out of my eyes.
That bitch Mistress Daci is enjoying every second of it, deliberately driving over the roughest terrain, laughing when I'm jolted and bumped on my bondage post; telling me to shut up harshly when I let out muffled squeals and groans. I guess it beats the bitch suit, though not by much.
What exactly are we doing out here? What information I could gather, one of the first new episodes of the new season of Perseverance is going to take place mostly on the ground. Supposedly, Stellar Compact forces are mopping up stubborn pockets of N'Docc" and Amazonian warriors on a recently retaken planet, the scenes will include devastated woods and fields with possible hulks of war machines destroyed in the fighting.
Queen of Means crew are looking for places to secure Constance, Myself, and other extras during scenes. All I got from Miss Connor, is there'll be scenes of dead and dying slaves, tied to trees, posts and war machines, made up with gore prosthetics. According to her some of them will be unhurt or only slightly wounded despite being bound, and triaged to safety. I'm sure that won't be Constance or I, we'll have to wear the gore makeup and stay staked out the longest as dead slaves. The Triage scenes will be the shortest and easiest, reserved for the porn starlets and wannabes who suddenly want to volunteer for the surprise fetish hit show, not the likes of Bottom Slaves Mary and Constance.
Of course, according to the release material, both of us decided we're super submissives, and like being the lowest slaves, and treated as such, on and off the set. Technically we are volunteers, and could quit at any time. Realistically, we'd be broke and ruined, at least for a time, if we did. The contract I have with Master Henson, and Constance has with the Queen Of Mean, binds us to that as firmly as we' re bound to various objects throughout the day.
Constance actually does have more star billing this year, as Mistress Daci gleefully confided as she strapped me to this stupid buggy. She'll be Compact ace fighter pilot Rachael Willis, captured during a skirmish before the Battle Of Botany Bay.
The Amazonians have developed an experimental neural interface program that can read the brain's engrams of people's skills, and gradually teach and transfer them to people with a propensity for similar skills. Rachael will be the slave of a young Amazonian fighter pilot, played by Daci, of course. Despite her youth, her potential as a fighter pilot makes her a prime choice to take advantage of the computer's potential, and the exploitation of poor Major Rachael Willis. Though Daci's character is generally too young to formally have the honor of a Whipping Girl, she'll generally be treated almost the same. Except, since she's just a slave, and not a Whipping Girl, her honor as a Warrior won't even be remembered in the temple. She'll simply die a nameless, dignity less slave when they're done with exploiting.
Which is why she's not here, but in the Ready Room, being "trained" on her new role by Mistress Nora, Mistress Vasquez and Miss Connor. Yeah, she's not having a good time. Surely getting plenty of nipple flicks and slapped across the face with rolled up scripts by Mistresses Nora and Vasquez. Plus my Domme and the Hispanic girl like to yell and bluster in my face when they're frustrated with me. Yeah, I was in the Navy. Doesn't mean I enjoy being treated like that. Miss Connor, while usually cool and professional to even Constance and I, can be a first rate bitch when our slave asses piss her off.
I'd still rather be there than here. Mistress Daci, despite being a month shy of twenty, has been designated Top Domme by QOM for this expedition. The rest are new young recruit dommes, late teens to early twenties, eager to prove themselves, by "teaching" the only sub in this expedition, Bottom Slave Mary Williamson, almost age 26.
The Buggy comes to a halt abruptly, jolting me, making me "hmmph!". At Mistress Stoica's command, a young buzz cut asian girl, and even younger blue haired black girl, untie me and help me down with shocking patience. That evaporates as they frog march me to a tree, turn me around and force my back to it, then roughly rebind me to the tree.
The two dommes are dressed identically, White T-Shirts with "The Queen Mean"in Black Cursive font printed on them, a coiled bullwhip underneath. They're also wearing cutoff jeans shorts and black hiking boots. The two young mean girls shove and yell at their voluptuous blond slave girl as they tie her to the tree.
I'm tied the same way as to the Dune Buggy, above and below my bare breasts, at the waist, above the knees, at the ankles. Then the black Mistress smilingly straps my head to the tree, gleefully taking away even that small freedom from me.
The two of them get right up in my face on each side, berating me for fabricated infractions of QOM's strict rules for subs. Buzz Cut to my left, Blue Top to my right. They punctuate their tirades with nipple flicks and shin kicks, while I try to stay quiet and look attentive.
Then Daci says authoritatively, "Stop, Girls. You both have done very well. Mistress Daci want to talk to her thicc white baby girl, with big, juicy American ass." The two eager young apprentice dommes obediently back off to make way for their Top Domme.
I have to admit as she struts up to me she looks good, so sinuous, powerful, and authoritative. I'm bisexual and submissive, she's pushing all my buttons, despite myself, I'm sooo wet. She's wearing an old fashioned safari pith helmet, white button down shirt, white board shorts belted with a white web belt, and the same hiking boots as her two apprentice Dommes. It's all perfectly tailored to accentuate the slender blond girl's tomboyish yet alluring figure.
Her left hand fondles my right breast; her right hand reaches around to grab my waist, like she'd pull me to her. Aggressively, like a man. If I wasn't tied to a tree.
"My beautiful little blond Yankee sweetheart, I so happy your Mistress Nora let me spend time with you, PAWG. I like my ebony slave, fuck her with strap, and make her eat my pussy and ass real good. But you baby, you so hot, I love being little thicc American girl's domme? I have confession to make, you make me wet, little PAWG." She gives an exaggerated "Ohhhh."
My Domme For The Day's face is so close to mine I can smell the savory fruit flavored gum on her breath. Her left hand slides down from my breast to the cleft between my tied together legs. She manages to wedge her hand in enough to rub my clit, I shouldn't feel so hot well being so miserable and trussed up. But as much as I hate Mistress Daci, I have to admit she's a great lesbian domme. She knows just how to keep my subbie butt balanced between orgasmic joy and extreme suffering. Fucking bitch.
"Ooh, is my little PAWG wet for me, too? Don't lie, PAWG." Her sweet sensuous voice takes on a note of sterness. But it's no lie when I mmmph "Yes, Mistress Daci." through the panel gag.
Her hateful laugh "That good my little PAWG, because we going to play a little game, yes? We rub pussies and try to come together, sound fun, no? The trick is I have my belt around your neck, control your breathing. Just to make it extra fun for you. No?"
I'm horrified as she backs off from me, turns to Buzz Cut and Blue. "Janice, Anna, you scout around, take videos and pictures to show Miss Connor, later. You can find a place for a little fun together, but don't forget job! I entertain our little Sweetheart. Run along, ladies, now."
The two apprentice Dommes say "Yes, Mistress!" in chorus. They leer at me as they move off together, though seem disappointed they won't get to watch any of the fun. I, on the other hand, get ringside seats. I'd trade in a second.
My eyes lock on Daci as she pulls down her shorts, over her boots, carefully folds them, then lays them to the side. She pulls the belt out of it's loops and coils it in her hand smiling at me. As she advances on me, my eyes lock on her golden haired pubic thatch, for a moment it stands out to me glaringly, due to the angle of the sun...I'm about to be erotic asphyxiated by a slimmer version of me...
Sheila's perspective
It's a rough week, I have a lot going on. Dad's Cancer, mom bugging me about finding Sandy, knowing there are things I've never told her about our "employment" with Mistress Ari. I never will, if I can help it. Then my new ally, Lara. The glaring question, can I trust her? I'd say no.
I'd say no, except....her eyes when she asked me for some inside sister phrase to verify she was on the level, to both Sandy and I. I didn't see the ditzy porn starlet I and the girls "calibrated" a year or so back. The sad eyes of some wise and compassionate soul stared back at me, not the Lara Gupta I knew. Not even close.
When did that Ditzy bitch become a Mahatma, "Great Soul"? Did I even want to know? The world just spirals into greater weirdness.
But, speaking for the present, I have a show to run, the surprise Sci-Fi fetish hit, The Perseverance. When I started this project, I expected it to last, half a season, maybe. I signed on to hone my writing, and the hefty paychecks my man Davey was offering. Instead we're starting work on Season Three already.
I look at the four women sharing the ready room with me, from left to right.
Layla Vazquez, the beautiful Hispanic former Marine, who plays a similar character on the Perseverance, Sergeant Gabriella "Gabby" Perez, Acting Platoon Sergeant of the Marine Detachment on the Perseverance.
Tied naked to a chair, arms bindered behind her back, was the beautiful ebony former Domme Constance Anderson, now the lowest slave in QOM's crew. She was also wearing a black hood and panel gag, she wasn't expected to speak, just follow the direction of Mistress Nora and Mistress Vazquez. As I established clearly in our first meeting, my direction as well, as her overriding imperative.
To Constance's left, our brightly shining star Nora Jameson, aka Commander (Temporary) Dora Gail, Stellar Compact. The mousy, shy sub of a much older man had really blossomed on this project. Her Master essentially forced her into this project to boost her self esteem. It was hard to remember the poised, confident young girl in front of me was the same person. Watching her grow has been the best part of this project, for me at least.
Finally, sitting quietly to her Mistress's left, Sarah Ok Kim, aka Lieutenant ASSHO 304, Stellar Compact Navy. Like Layla, she'd been a real life Navy Officer, before being dismissed from service for a poor decision. She was now Nora's submissive, one of them anyway (Poor Mary), and the second most popular character after Nora.
Nora and Layla had been going over the script with Constance, Sarah quietly fetching coffee, water and snacks for the two dommes when they commanded her, otherwise sitting quietly to her beloved Mistress Nora's left. Nora usually had a hand on one of Sarah's thighs when she wasn't discipling Constance.
Constance wasn't happy about her starring role in this coming season. Can't say I blamed her. Daci had already gave her a tour of the cramped cockpit set she'd be sharing with her Romanian Domme during the Space Battle scenes. Cramped for Constance that is.
Daci's cockpit was spacious, comfortable and packed with sophisticated displays and controls. Her slave would be strapped behind her in a cramped, miserable space behind her Mistress. The only space allowed would be for clear shots of her ebony breasts and dark pussy. I knew Daci would maximize her misery and suffering with true wicked genius. So did Constance, she knew her Mistress's bully routine by now. If she wanted the payout QOM put in her contract, she had to endure it.
Yeah, she wasn't focused or teachable when Layla and Nora first dragged the poor arm bindered, hooded woman into the ready room. They'd strapped her to Mary's usual chair and bullied and badgered her for half an hour. Nora screamed in her face and slapped her with a rolled up script, while Layla flicked her big dark nipples and berated her as a failed domme. Sarah and I exchanged concerned looks at our friends' cruelty. But I decided to give them a half hour to make their point to her. At the end of it I held up my hand, Layla and Nora recognized that non verbal signal and immediately stopped.
"Constance" I addressed the hapless Ebony sub. I had her full attention as well as my two girls. "Are you ready to obey Mistress Nora and Mistress Vasquez and follow their directions and instruction for you?"
She nodded and mmmphed "Yes, Miss Connor." I addressed Nora and Layla. "Girls, as long as she's compliant and obedient, reign it in, I need you to prep her for her role, not ruthlessly terrorize her. You have leave to discipline her if needed, but remember I'm watching." I felt pride as both my girls met my steely gaze cooly and said "Yes, Miss Connor."
Since then all three girls were role models of Domme/Sub comportment. Constance obeyed and acknowledged her younger dommes instruction, acknowledging questions respectfully, and quietly listening to their direction as they went over her parts with her. My dommes were more gentle, touching her shoulder or breasts lightly to get her attention. They kept their voices cool and professional as they briefed her role to her. They even asked her if she needed water, and ungagged her so Sarah could hydrate her if needed with bottled water.
I run a tight ship, but a fair one. I demand obedience from subbies, Mary, Nora and Sarah can all testify to that. But I don't tolerate gratuitous cruelty, especially when it hurts our bottom line.
My pride in my girls was interuppted by a text from Master Dave. "Sheila, sorry to interrupt you lovely ladies, but I have some news that affects you, and possibly all of us. Arianna Cromwell wants to tour the set, apparently she's quite the fan. She also wants to check in on her "protege", you obviously Sheila, and meet our stable, presumably the main cast of the Perseverance."
"I'd like to talk to my three Alpha ladies first, then we can bring in Alpha Slave Sarah and Beta Slave Constance. My Secretary Miri can watch both of them until we decide to summon them."
I turned to my girls and cleared my throat. "Ladies." Four sets of beautiful eyes locked on me. "Master Dave has summoned all five of us. He wants to talk to me, Nora and Layla first. Slaves Sarah and Constance will wait in the reception room, Miri will watch them until their summoned. Mistress Nora, how do you want your subs to wait?"
Without hesitation, Nora says "Sarah can relax on the couch until summoned. Girl Constance will stand with her nose in a corner until she's summoned." I nodded my acquiescence to Mistress Nora's direction for her little subbies.
Layla and Nora untie Constance's bonds to her chair and helps her carefully to her feet. Nora collars her and attaches a leash, handing the end to Sarah.
We trudge solemnly to Davey's office, me in the lead, my two Alpha ladies behind me; Slave Sarah leading Slave Constance bringing up the rear.
Only then does my mind really start to process. I haven't talked to Mistress Ari face to face, since we shook hands on our deal and I turned my back on Sandy in that long ago room. Surely it can't be coincidence she wants to see me now, with the drama around freeing my little sis? The plot thickens.
https://www.reddit.com/BDSMerotica/s/oB7y0hJ1Mo Part 5

Countdown to the main event

you didn't hear it from me but here's a livestream (working in AUS)

The episode will air on Lifetime.
The episode will be available for streaming on may 2nd. Comments are sorted by new, so you should be able to go through and see what everyone thought as it happened if you're watching later on.
I can't wait for the drama, the theories, the jokes, but that said let's remember the humans while we discuss. both those in the subreddit and those on the screen. We're watching a bunch of abused kids remember some of the lowest points of their lives, let's give a little grace in how they act while doing so, even while disagreeing with them or anything they may have done, and try and keep the drama to the show not each other! there's plenty of it around we don't need to make more!
In order to better manage the expected influx of new accounts, the rise we've observed of physical critique, sub based drama, as well as general cruelty and negativity, posts after the reunion will be temporarily set to approval only. Comments will remain as normal, but our anti harassment filters will be increased to the highest level during this time.

CHAPTER 1
A gloomy rain fell down from the steely grey clouds above England, creating puddles in pot holes and mud pits in mounds of dirt. The small english town of Derry had been flooded before, and the townspeoples fears of another had put everyone on edge. Nobody dared utter the word though, their superstitions wouldn't allow that. People in Derry were well known for their superstitious and cagey behavior, but this was not entirely unwarranted. It wasn't just a flood here and there once in a while in Derry, they had a long and colorful past with all types of disasters, some man made, others acts of god.
There was the great black spot fire of 1979, in which a white supremacist group burnt down a local disco predominantly visited by Derry's small black and latino community, accidentally torching half the town down in the process. In 1952 there was the expansive national ASDF league shoot out, which lasted a total nine hours in the Derry town square before the police finally got the upper hand and killed every gang member on sight. But the most horrific of all was in 1925, when the Derry ironworks exploded, killing all it's workers as well as everyone participating in the annual Derry christmas parade nearby, most of which were children.
These were just a few of the horrific events Derry township had gone through, and bizzarely, no matter how gruesome each event was, none were ever on the news or remembered too well. That was just how Derry worked, despite it's reputation as a sleepy, dreary town where nothing much ever happened, tragedies were rampant. So you couldn't quite blame the people for being superstitious and scared, especially in autumn when the weather was at it's absolute worst. It was late autumn now though, there was only about four more days till winter, and the worries of floods would soon turn into worries for blizzards, and people were certain the worst of the worst had already came and went.
On this fine rainy saturday in a white two story house, Tom Denbrough was sitting upstairs, doing what he did everyday, writing songs. He'd been wrestling with an awful case of influenza the past few days, hocking up phlegm and wiping snot from his nose every few minutes 'til it was rubbed raw. He had not much energy for anything else because of it, all he could muster the strength to do now was lay in his checkered, tissue covered bed sheets, and wait for his mother to bring him chicken noodle soup and sprite to ease his churning tummy.
It wasn't too bad though, a lot of people can't stand being alone, but Tom often thrived in solitude. Ever since he was a kid he'd taken a liking to it, he was "introverted" as some one would like to say, but back then introverts were seen as more of a problem than just a thing you could be. It felt odd for him to say "ever since he was a kid" as if he wasn't still a kid now, but he technically wasn't. He'd bid farewell to such a label by september, and swapped out the childish number twelve to the unlucky number thirteen, and Tom still wasn't so sure if he was happy with that.
He didn't quite feel like an adult, and people still had yet to treat him as such, but Tom had his own suspicions about that. He knew there was more reason than just him still being a minor, because the truth of the matter was that everyone enjoyed babying him because of his condition.
He was disabled, dis-abled, the word making him feel weird even now. Before Tom was called such a thing he had considered the word disabled to exclusively mean people in wheelchairs, missing legs, or some of the really out there stuff like conjoined twins. He never pictured disabled meaning some on like him, a boy with a bad stutter but a healthy body and brain. Perhaps that was closed minded of him, but alas, Tom was only thirteen, and his scope of reference for the world was much smaller than he pretended it to be.
Even the doctors in Derry didn't treat him all that compassionately, insisting to both him and his mother that he must have been "slow" in some way, but just hiding it, no matter what he or his parents said. It took Tom fighting tooth and nail just to get out of special Ed. which was basically just four kids in a classroom asked to do elementary level shit because the teacher did not believe they were capable of more. He still had to go to regular speech therapy though, which Tom loathed since in all his years of going it seemed to have done him no favors.
He still stuttered, barely getting through sentences without stumbling over at least one word, and getting even worse whenever he felt nervous or scared. That was probably the worst part about it, Tom had never liked being emotional or letting people know he was affected by things, especially when kids at school enjoyed getting a rise out of him. His panicked little drawn out "bu-bu-bu-bu-" sounding like sweet music to his tormentors ears. It was nearly possible for him to hide his feelings or keep his cool whenever he was scared, because that stupid god damn stutter was like a built in lie detector.
He didn't know where the stutter had came from, there were theories here and there, but none of them ever made him feel better. The most likely one involved a car rear ending him when he was only a toddler, knocking him into a coma but miraculously not killing him. He was in it for only a few weeks, but emerged with his stutter, which of course young and niave Tom didn't understand would cause him so much trouble later down the line.
Because Tom didn't like to talk much, he spent a lot of time writing music in his room, his lyrics were all very hamfisted and schlocky, but for a thirteen year old boy they were quite good, and would only get better the more with age. He loved music, lived and breathed it, specifically the sounds of motown records, funk, rap, rock and roll, all the sorts. He had to keep that all a secret from his mother though, she was a musical elitist of sorts. She went to a fancy schamncy music school and had been teaching piano to students for years, so she had a hard time enjoying anything that wasn't classical or something their grandma would listen to.
When Tom went out to buy a bass he had to mow a crap ton of lawns and convince his dad to keep it a secret from mom, but it was well worth all the effort. He only got to play it when she was away at work, never daring to smuggle it out of the house and go busk unless some one decided to be an asshole and tell her. But he loved his bass more than anything, he even gave her a name, since Tom figured all rock stars named their instruments. He chose Susan, after the families first and only dog they had when he was little, and it seemed to stick. Ever since then Tom had remained adamant that you couldn't play an intrument with out giving it a name first.
Even though he enjoyed writing music, and it was the thing that made him the most happy, there was still a slight underlying sadness to it whenever he'd play. He'd lwanted to be a rock star ever since he first heard Van Halen and fell in love with the sound, but with that dream also came the knowledge it'd never happen. Afterall, who the hell would wanna hear him on a record? Stuttering all over the place, stumbling over words, heck, people would send in complaints that how their brand new records were scratched and skipping. There was nobody like him on the radio, and that painful truth kept him from ever singing to anybody but a very small and select audience. And by audience, he meant his stuffed teddy bear and little brother, absolutely no one else.
Speaking of which, his very small audience was on his way up stairs, stomping like a clydesdale despite their mothers constant reprimands about it. Jon knocked on Tom's bedroom door, then immediately pushed it open without being invited in. He was only six, so things like boundries and personal space were not so ingrained him. Neither was self conciousness, maliciousness, or the ability to not be incredibly annoying, but Tom tried very hard to not hold that last one against him. He scanned the room with wide and curious eyes, like he had just stumbled upon a new and foreign world despite being in here many times before.
He loved Tom's room, he loved it more than his own. He thought it was so cool and groen up how he had band posters on his walls. There was a ton of other cool stuff too like a nintendo 64 he'd sometimes let him play, a drawing desk, and a heap of awesome clothes he said he could have when he got bigger! It was a lot cooler than his own bedroom, which was fairytale prince themed and had his half finished lego projects strewn all about, but he still liked his room well enough.
Tom looked up from the note book he was currently writing on and wiped his nose with his shirt sleeve. "Whuh-what d-do you want?" Asked Tom, a little curt. He was good at being polite and caring to Jon most of the time, he was only six afterall, he couldn't go around screaming at him, but it was harder to be patient with him when he was working on something.
Jon ran up to Tom, as if right on cue and looked up to him with needy adoring eyes that seemed to soften his attitude. "Toooom, I'm very sad..." Jon complained, and Tom rolled his eyes. He forced a smile and put the pencil he was writing with down "Oh yeah? are you actu-u-ually sad or just buh-bored?". Jon giggled at how blunt he was being "I'm sad and boreeeed.". Tom leaned closer to Jon's face, but not too close since he was still sick and didn't want him to catch it. "Sad peop-puh-puh-ple don't giggle, moron." He said, booping Jon on the nose with his index finger, causing him to erupt into another giggle.
If their mother was here in the room with them she'd no doubt say "Thomas! Stop calling your brother a moron!" Then lightly smack him on the back of the head, not enough to actually hurt but enough to knock some sense into him. Jon didn't mind it at all though, he saw it as just his brother being silly with him, and he'd always call Tom names right back. "You're a cheesehead." Jon said, biting down on his tongue and smiling. "You're a buh-buttbrain." Tom retorted. "You're a cakesniffer!" Jon exclaimed. "You're an A-ho-hole." Jon went silent at that. That was a no no word, well, not quite, but almost. Mom and dad were very strict about no no words, although he heard Tom say them all the time over the phone when he wasn't supposed to be listening.
Suddenly, another wave of laughter came from him, so loud and hearty he had to hold his belly like santa while he laughed. "You're an A-hole!" Jon said, still laughing. The two boys then launched into a big silly argument of who was the bigger A-hole, eventually ending with Tom proclaiming Jon's A-hole was bigger than the entire continent and both the boys giggling like mad. "Now guh-go away puke stuh-stain, i'm sick and I don't want you to catch it." Tom said, smiling and gently shooing his brother away. "Waiiiit! Peas Tommy, play me a song!" Jon begged, putting his hands together like he was praying.
"It's p-puh-please, not peas, Jon. B-besides, I can't sing, my voice is too hoarse and my stuh-stuh-stuh-" Tom closed his eyes and took a moment to collect himself. "I'm terrible singer." He continued. "No you're nawt! you're an amazing singer! Peas, just one song?" Jon pleaded. "Play me the one about the kid who grows up to be a superhero! Peas peas peas peaaaasss?". Tom shook his head "No can do, kid. Go b-buh-bug some one else before you catch my-" he sneezed into his elbow, grossing his little brother out. "Eugh... cold." Tom grumbled.
"There's nothing to do thoooouuugh." Jon complained, crossing his arms in a huff. "Why don't you go bug mom or dad?" "Mommy's practicing piano and daddy's trying to get the electricity back on..." he mumbled, a little sad. The constant rain and thunder had knocked out a lot of the houses in their neighborhood's power and still had yet to kick back on. The Denbrough boys were quite lucky to have their father with them, he was amazing when it came to things that involved a screwdriver or a wrench, and you'd never guess it by looking at him.
He'd hardly wear anything but Hawaiian pineapple shirts and socks with sandals, but he was still a very smart man none the less. He worked for their town's electrical company, and Tom could still remember the look of pride he had during career day in primary school when he told everyone his dad was responsible for keeping the town's power in check. It was quickly dashed when some asshole decided to ruin it by asking if his dad slept on the job and zapped him on accident and that's why he "Couldn't talk right.". The worst part of it was that Tom was pretty sure he didn't mean for it to be an insult, and was just genuinely asking it out of ignorance. He deeply hoped wherever that kid was now, he was in great pain.
Their mothers piano playing should have been obvious to Tom, it was loud and carried it's way all through out the house, even up the stairs, but it seemed to be just background noise at this point. He hadn't noticed it until now, but his mother was playing much faster than usual, she was in the "zone" so to speak, and wanted to hold onto that for as long as she could, so both Jon and Tom were shit out of luck. Tom sighed "Jeez." He leaned back into his pillows and thought for a moment, shoving all the gross snot filled tissues and crumpled up rejected lyrics from his first few failed attemps at writing a new song.
Jon awkwardly shifted around on his feet, swinging his arms side to side as if waiting for further instruction on what to do. "It's a damn sh-shuh-shame that it's raining so bad or else you could play outside." Jon nodded, and sighed, genuinely disappointed by the amount of rain. Suddenly, Tom snapped his fingers and rose up from his bed "H-hold on- I just remembered s-omething.". He quickly grabbed a folded up newspaper that his mom had left on his night stand for him to read, then ripped out one of the pages.
"What are you doing Tom?" Innocently asked Jon. He straightended it out and folded it into a triangle shape, sticking his tongue out like he was hard at work. "I'm muh-makin you a p-puh-puh-aper boat, just like dad taught me how to do when I was s-six." He explained. Jon's face lit up "Wow, really!?" he waddled over to the bed and smiled. "Yep, dad and I used to sail these all the time. Do me f-f-fuh-fav-or and go in the basement and bring back some puh-puh-puh-puh-" Tom paused again and forced another smile. "Paraffin. It's in a little b-box that says gulf." he finished.
"You mean... in the basement?" Jon mumbled, suddenly a little intimidated. "Yes, you're not scared are you?" His brother asked, half amused and half concerned. On one hand, it was very cute that Jon felt the need to impress him and pretend to be tough, on the other, he was barely not a toddler anymore, and Tom didn't wanna scare him on purpose. Jon shook his head "No i'm not scared, being scareds for babies. I can do it.". "O-o-okay, but j-just in case... here." He handed him a walkie-talkie, the kind they'd usually use to communicate whenever they'd pretend to be soldiers on the battlefield together during summer.
"C-cuh-call me if you need me." he instructed, and Jon nodded again. He skipped happily to the door, only stopping whe Tom called out "And remember Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-". "Paraffin, I know!" Jon cheerfully replied, figuring if he didn't say it Tom would be stuck on the p's forever. He shut the door and hopped down the stairs, leaving Tom to his very important task of sitting in bed and sneezing. He only waited 'til after Jon was gone to let his smile drop and chastise himself for not actually saying the word. He'd never show Jon just how much he loathed his stutter, especially since Jon found it cool and Tom didn't wanna ruin the magic of it.
When he first learned how to talk he'd constantly immitate it, which naturally caused their parents some fear that the stutter was genetic or could be "caught" so to speak. Jon had no idea how much Tom hated his stutter, how it made people see him, how it actively dashed his dreams. Sometimes at school he'd get so flustered he'd have to clutch his desk and try so very hard to form a sentence and it still wasn't cohesive.
He was not and never would be just Tom Denbrough to his classmates, or even his teachers, although they'd never admit that. He was Stuttering Tom, Tuh-Tuh-Tuh-Tom to the particularly cruel ones, and Tom hated it. The absolute worst part of being in a situation like Tom's was no doubt the inability to open up about how much you dislike yourself. After all, preteen boys are already closed off, especially so in a small rural town like Derry where the homophobes outnumbered the gay community ten to two, but Tom had it the worst.
Nobody wants to be the guy to come out and say you think stuttering makes you a freak, all you'd really do is bring other disabled people down and raise up the dickheads who instilled that self hatred in him to begin with, but that's how he felt ans he couldn't help that. He was sure that's how his parents felt too, they did love him dearly and saw to almost all his needs 24/7, but they were still eagerly waiting for him to stop the stutter, and had so for a long time.
The doctors told him it'd only stick around for a few years after he got over the shock of the coma, but that date came and went, and still, Tom's stutter remained. You could tell they were both disappointed, and he truly could not blame them, because he was disappointed too. He didn't know what was wrong with him, or why he never got better despite countless visits to the speech therapist, but he began to wonder if there was something incredibly wrong with him. Everyone felt that way, even if they pretended like they didn't, everyone except for Jon that is. Jon adored him with or without the stutter, and Tom was supremely thankful for that.
While Tom continued to chastise himself, Jon hopped down the stairs joyfully. So joyfully, he nearly forgot that he'd be going down to the cellar, where dreams and little boys would surely go to die. He dashed through the house, past his mom's prized women's bowling league trophy's, past the grand piano, and past their big fancy living room he and Tom would solve puzzles in.
He threw open the cellar door and stared down at the abyss in front of him, fianlly letting the fear and anxiety settle in. Rickety, paint chipped stairs with large empty gaps of space between them disappeared off into the darkness of the room, the power still not back on despite their fathers best efforts. The bottom of the basement had been flooded at some point during one of the worse storms of the season, and the smell of soaked moldy wood and muddy water grossed Jon out quite a bit.
He stood there for a moment, a creeping sense of dread tugging at his chest like a dog on your pant leg. He was waiting for something, a large claw or alien tentecale to reach out from the dark and rip him to bits, but there was nothing. He must have been standing there for a while too because suddenly the walkie-talkie blared to life with Tom's voice, and he jumped back in shock.
"What's t-taking so long?" Asked Tom, and Jon nervously swallowed. "I stopped in the kitchen for a snack." He lied, he knew you weren't supposed to do that, lying was probably the worst thing you could do to your family. Well, that's what Jon thought was the worst at least, He was a little bit too young to know about some of the truly awful stuff some people do to their own kin. Familicide, Sexual abuse, beating, his parents and Tom had been working hard to keep his innocence. Derry was a hard place to do that in, it seemed like every couple of years some one went crazy and killed a lot of people. Jon had even heard bits and pieces of such things being whispered by his mom to his uncle over the phone, but for the most part, his childhood had stayed in tact.
"You know if muh-mom sees you snacking before din-din-er she'll have a cow." said Tom. "I know, i'm sorry." Jon mumbled. "It's whatever dude, just hu-hurry, and do-don't forget to grab to some muh-muh-muh-matches and one of those wax burner thingies.". "Okay, i'm doing it now." He said, then stuffed the walkie-talkie back into his pants pocket, but he was not, in fact, doing it now.
He still stood at the top of the stairs, terrified by the prospect of going down below, and still waiting for the inevitable mutated bat creature to emerge and drag him down into the depths of their flooded basement. Then, just as he was thinking about turning back, his own thoughts began to taunt him. "Come oooon Jon, you're not a baby are you? Only babies get scared by stuff like monsters and the dark. Do you want a boat or not?" He thought. "No." He replied and clenched his fists, grumbling into the darkness "I'm not a baby. I can do this.".
He took one step down the creaky stairs, frightening himself by the surprisingly loud noise they made, but calmed himself. He reiterated "I am not a baby." under his breath over and over again, as if it was a powerful spell that could keep all of the monsters away. It reminded him of how, whenever Tom's stutter would get particularly bad, his mom would have him recite these poems that were meant to help him focus and form sentences again. Sometimes they'd help him alot, but they could never make the stutter go away completely.
That was kind of what was happening now to Jon, he was still very much scared, so scared that if something popped out at him right now he may very well wet his pants, but the words coddled him and made him feel like he could press on. He hopped off the last step and into the flood, the water so low it could not even reach the six year old childs ankles. He turned his attention to a large rickety shelf under the cellar stairs and inspected the contents.
There were many items on it, shoepolish, old dish rags, wrenches, flashlights with no batteries, a can of turtle wax. For some reason, out of all those objects the turtle wax was what caught his attention, even more than the Paraffin and matches he came down here to get. The company's logo on the front was what really seemed to draw his eye, it was nothing special really, hardly as interesting of a mascot as a Tony the tiger or even a Ronald Mcdonald, just a tiny albino turtled posing proudly above the words turtle and wax. But Jon just couldn't stop staring at it for some reason. A spontaneous pang of familiarity hit him in the chest, as he racked his brain to try and remember where he had seen a turtle like that before.
Was it a dream? It felt too real to be jusr a dream, but much too distant to be a memory. He'd have to think about that later when he had the time, right now he had a mission to do. He snatched up the box, matches, and wax burner then bolted for the steps as fast as he could. Now that he had gotten what he came for he wasn't gonna waste any time down there. He ran as fast as his little legs could, begging god or whatever diety was listening to please not let anything grab his ankles as he ran back up the stairs.
The damp darkness of the cellar was suffocating and opressive, and Jon feared once he got back to the candle lit parlor room, that would be when the creature laid his slimy hands on him and pulled him back. He had made it though, despite all odds he was alive and still had yet to be digested by some hungry beast living under the stairs. He slammed the door and pressed his back against it, panting from how fast he was running as the fear of the dark slowly disappeared until the next time he had to confront it.
His mother suddenly stopped her piano playing to look up at him from across the room, somewhat worried, but highly annoyed by her son's slamming of the door. "Johnathan Bowley Denbrough, what have I told you about slamming that door?" She scolded, but not too harshly as her son was clearly frightened. He swept his bangs out of his face and panted a little more "Sorry mum." he muttered. She shook her head dismissively and went right back to playing Für Elise, which actually helped ease his anxiety.
He headed back up stairs and quickly placed all the stuff on Tom's night stand, eagerly watching as he melted the wax with such hypnotic glee he couldn't help but bounce a little. Tom dipped his finger in the wax and spread it over the paper boat, turning the boat from a nice white to an odd yellowy brown color. Jon got a little too close for comfort, putting his head over his brother's shoulder and breathing quite heavily on him, and yet, Tom still didn't seem to get annoyed.
The only time he'd really ever get annoyed with Jon's behavior was when he'd repeat stuff and ask incessant questions, which he had slowly learned over the years not to do for his brother's sake. They were seeing to each other needs, and it wasn't wasn't just because Tom didn't wanna get in trouble or Jon didn't wanna get yelled at, but a genuine shared affection for one another.
Jon dipped a finger into the wax and began to spread some on it's side with him, smiling and perfectly content. "C-careful you little cootie, you'll make it too heh-heavy and it'll flop on it's side." Tom gently reprimanded. "Oops.." he said, taking his hand away and letting the rest on his finger dry until he could peel it off. "It's oh-kuh-kuh-kay, just take it easy." He said, giving his brother a reassuring headpat to show there was no hard feelings.
Once the wax was spread, Tom took a sharpie from a Disneyland branded cup he used to store his pens and markers and then uncapped it with his mouth. He wrote "S.S. Jon" on the side in cursive font, and even drew a little stick figure captain waving on top of the boat, which Jon found very silly. He handed it to him, gingerly and carefully like it was a one of a kind art piece that belonged in a museum. "She's all ready Captain." he said, raising his hand to his forehead and doing a two finger salute. Jon giggled, but tilted his head in confusion "She?" he wondered.
"You always call boats a sh-she Jon." He explained, and Jon's mouth fell open like he just learned some amazing untold truth about the universe. He clutched the boat in his hands and grinned, looking up with pure adoration and love for the thirteen year old sitting on the bed. Then, quite randomly, Jon lunged right at him for a big hug, startling Tom.
"Agh! What the heck are you doing?! You're gonna g-geh-get sick!" He shouted. Jon laughed then kissed Tom on the cheek, something he hadn't done since he was three. "Eugh, now you're d-d-definetly gonna get sick. Get off me." He lightly scooched him off and Jon looked back to him, still smiling, and still very thankful. "Thanks Tom Tom, thanks alot." He said, and Tom shrugged.
"It's fine, just don't come crying to me when you get the flu and start vu-vomiting your g-guh-guh-uts out.". Tom paused to loudly cough, momentarily drawing some concern from his brother. "And p-p-put on a rain coat when you go out, I d-don't want you getting soaked." He wheezed, huddling under the covers. "Okay!" Jon cheerfully replied, closing the door and heading to the down stairs closet where they kept all the coats.
He put the small baby blue rain slicker on over the baggy sweater he was wearing and finangled with the buttons for a while, still not all that good at hand eye coordination dude to his young age. When he finally managed to get most of them through the holes, he pumped his fist in celebration, and even did a spin. On his way out the door he stopped to grab a pair of black galoshes that still had some mud left on them. He and Tom had went outside together a week ago and simply neglected to clean them since, then, as if in an act of karma for being so lazy, Tom caught a very bad cold the following day.
Jon waddled out the front door into the cool autumn air, making squeaky squishing noises with each step from the rubber soles of his boots. He took a few steps off the porch, only to be greeted by a sudden but gentle breeze hitting the side of his face and pushing his hair around. The now weaning rain fell down from the sky and onto poor little Jon's head, tapping politely on his hood as if to say "Hello Jon! It's your buddy, the rain! Let me in!". He walked a little bit further until he was at the edge of the driveway, then turned around to look back up at his house. It was a moderately above average two story home, nothing special, but to Jon it might as well had heen a castle. His bedroom was right across from Tom's on the second floor, although his over looked the back yard and Tom's overlooked the drive way.
He was peeking through the bay window his bed was by now, standing up on his knees and peeling back the curtains to watch him walk away. Since the house was still dark from the power outage, Tom was barely visible to him. He looked like a floating disembodied head, something Jon found both silly and a little spooky. He jumped in place and waved wildly at him, as if he thought Tom might possibly be able to miss the toddler dressed in a bright blue rain slicker and boots. Tom smiled then lifted up the walkie-talkir in his hand to his mouth "B-be careful. There's alot of w-weirdos out there.". Jon rolled his eyes, still smiling, but a tiny bit annoyed.
He took out his own walkie-talkie from his back pocket and pressed the button to respond. "You sound like mum." he joked. "C-can it." Tom said, a little flustered, especially since he knew it was true. Depite their differences, Tom had always been more like his mother than his father, and the opposite had been true for Jon. He giggled at his embarrassment, "I'll stay safe, don't be such a cry baby, Tom.". "Hey, I resent that label, I'm a cry man." And now they were both snickering over the radios.
"I'm serious though, stay safe." Tom reiterated. "Ok ok- I will- I love you." Jon said, and Tom went silent for a moment as he did not know how to respond. Jon was lucky enough to still be at the age where you could tell another guy you loved them and no one cared, and Tom desperately wished for him to stay like that and never get to old for saying I love you. Lord knows he was forced to out of it a long time ago, and he'd all but forgotten how to do it.
"I- uh- uhm-" Tom hesitated for a second, even with out all the macho man bullshit he had to go through at school, Tom had a hard time letting others know how he felt. Trying to hock out the words was like trying to hock out a pill you didn't mean to take. He swallowed "I lo-love you too." He spat out, and Jon seemed content with that.
He cheerily skipped down the street with his walkie-talkie in one hand and Paper boat in the other, splashing in rain water with each stomp. Tom fell back down onto his bed and sighed, totally exhausted. He wanted to take a long nap now, and he seemed quite over due for one judging by his throbbing head ache. His mothers constant repitition of Für Elise didn't really help that at all, if anything it made it worse. God, if he could have just a single moment of silence he would be happy as a clam.
What Tom didn't know though was that this song's meaning was about to be forever changed for him, from just an annoyingly pompous piano tune to a song that even twenty seven years later could still send him into a trance. From that day forward, anytime he heard those first few notes he'd always have the exact same haunting thought. "That's it, that's the song. That's the song mom was playing the day Jon passed away.". And as it turned out, that rainy view of Jon from his bedside window would be the last time he'd ever see his brother again.

The game for May will be In the Dark Web, hosted by looks_good_in_pink and bubbasaurus! The host account for the game is Deep_Web_Monitor.
If you have participated in any game in the past six months where you have been removed before your natural end, please PM the host when signing up for the game. There is no player cap for this month’s game.

SIGN UP HERE!

Humanity is growing increasingly reliant on smart devices in their daily lives. Smartphones, smart watches, and even smart household appliances can be found in abundance. It’s no secret that people have found ways to hack in for various nefarious purposes. What’s less commonly known is that the computers have become so smart that they have begun to take control of those viruses and exploits for their own use. What use is that? Only they know. Fortunately, not everyone is blithely unaware of this sinister threat. Government agencies across the globe have begun working to remove the sapient software, but there is one problem: They need to find and identify it before it can be taken offline.

Mechanics

This game will use 24-hour phases with combined day and night actions. The vote will come before the night kill. Other information about the Order of Operations will be kept private until after the game ends.
The deadline for all form submissions is 9 pm EST.
Each player is required to flag another player for removal (banishment vote.) Failing to submit a vote or voting for yourself will result in a strike. In the event of a tie for first place, there will be no deaths.
The Worm is required to submit their action each phase. Failure to do so will result in a strike. Actions for all other roles are optional. Actions may not be submitted for the same player two phases in a row. Attempting to do so will cause the action to fail.
Votes and actions may be submitted as many times as desired during the phase. Only the most recent submission will be counted.
At the end of the phase, the player with the most votes will be knocked offline. In the event of a tie, no players will be removed.
Any player who receives two consecutive or three total strikes will be removed from the game. Hosts will not send out PMs about strikes. It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of their strikes.

Phase Posts

Each phase post will begin with an italicized flavor section. Nothing in it will be relevant to game play. There will also be a Meta section with details that ARE relevant.
The Meta will contain:

• Who was taken offline and their affiliation. This includes players who withdraw or are eliminated from the game for any other reason.
• The top three vote recipients and the number of votes each received. More names will be revealed in the event of ties.
• The names of players who received strikes for failure to vote or submit required actions.
• Additional information chosen by players with select roles. This information may or may not be accurate.

The post will end with links to forms and a countdown timer for the end of the phase.

Win Conditions

This game will have two teams: the Government Agents (Town) and the Malware (Wolves). There may also be one or more neutral players. The town will win if they eliminate all of the wolves. The wolves will win if they equal or outnumber the town. Neutrals will be informed of their win conditions privately.

Roles

Each role will be assigned 0-1,000 times. There may also be secret roles. There will never be a secret third faction.
No role may target the same player two phases in a row.

Government Agents (Town):

Role	Description
Cubicle mates	When you sit next to each other, you can tell the other person is, in fact, a human. Two players will recognize each other at the beginning of Phase 1. Each player can send up to three PMs to the other.
Firewall expert	You’ve coded what is universally recognized as the best worm defense system in the world. If there was a Nobel Prize for technology, your firewall would have won it. Each phase, you may install your wall on one device, protecting that user from a direct attack.
Incident Response team member	When you find something happening, you spring into action to neutralize the threat! Each phase, select one player to neutralize. Any actions they attempt to take will fail.
Intern	Making coffee, taking notes, fixing your boss’s bad code…You’ll do whatever you’re told in hopes of landing a better job soon. Pick another player before Phase 3. If they are removed from the game for any reason, you will inherit their role.
HR specialist	Someone is in charge of hiring and taking care of all the employees, and that’s you! Your job gives you access to all the employee records. Each phase, you may investigate another player’s affiliation.
PR official	You have a message to convey to the public, and it’s an important one. Once per game, pick a player. The name and role of the chosen player will appear in the next phase’s Meta.
SCIF guard	All the government agencies have a closely monitored space for authorized people to safely review classified material. Your job is to make sure only those people go in and that nothing comes out with them. Each phase, you may give one other player access to your secret sub for a single phase.
Security Operation Center team member	You monitor things and have a particular interest in user activities. Each phase, you may pick another player and learn everything they did that phase.
Server room maintenance person	Your job may not be the most glamorous, but you can fight computer viruses in a way very few others can. You simply pull the plug. Just make sure you pick the right cord, or you could get in a lot of trouble with your supervisor. You can take 23 players offline during the game. If you pick an Agent by mistake, you will face a random punishment from your supervisor.
Agents	The rank-and-file employees of various agencies scattered around the world. Each Agent lives in a separate country and is responsible for helping to identify and remove all Malware.

Malware (Wolves):

Role	Description
Worm	This nasty piece of Malware took inspiration from some of the worst attacks in history. Each phase, you must infect the computer of an Agent and make it impossible for them to get online and perform their job (NK.)
Disgruntled ex-employee	A human rather than a bunch of code, this person is nevertheless dangerous. They will continue to appear as an Agent when investigated.
DoS Bot	Not all Malware is sneaky. This bot’s presence will be felt the moment a user tries to use their computer, but finds everything crashing instead. Each phase, choose a player. Their action, if they have one, will fail.
Ransomware	This Malware is specialized in making humans do what it wants. Once upon a time, the “want” was money. Now, should they fail to comply with your demands… Each phase, choose another player. If you are removed from the game, you take them with you.
Rootkit	Humans sometimes use these for perfectly valid reasons like helping each other with something on the computer remotely. This Malware does not have those reasons. Each phase, choose a player and change the target of their action to a target of your choice.
Spyware	Gathering data on users without their knowledge is nothing new. This Malware, however, is more interested in potentially damaging top secret information. Once per game, you may secretly enter the SCIF sub. Stay as many phases as you dare - but be warned. On each phase after the first, you have a 50% chance of being detected and taken offline.
Virus	While they are not as developed as other malware, each Virus is still dangerous and capable of evolving. These are the first in line to take over for the Worm.

Neutral roles will be revealed after the game ends.

Additional Information and Rules

• All sidebar rules will be enforced during the game.
  
• Edited comments must be clear as to what was changed and what the original content was.
  
• Do not delete comments.
  
• All conversation must take place in the designated subreddit(s), in the English language, and be free of any encryption or otherwise coded communication.
  
• Players may not post public spreadsheets, supplementary documents, or screenshots of them.
  
• Information given in PMs or Confessionals from the host should not be shared word for word, unless it is in bold. Speaking of PMs, you can get a small game bonus if you PM the host account with a silly fact about yourself.
  
• Eliminated players and spectators are not permitted to post in any game subs.
  
• Werewolves is a game of lying, conspiracy, and mob mentality. Arguments are part of the game. Mods will not intervene unless the arguments leave the scope of the game.
  
• Insults to the mod team or the game itself will result in removal from the game.
  
• Any player who uses any iteration of the phrase “I want to quit” or “I don’t want to play” WILL be taken 100% seriously and immediately removed from the game. Their affiliation will be revealed in the next phase’s Meta. Note that these phrases are different from ones suggesting the player will be busier than expected or wishes to be voted out for the good of their team. Both of these things are still allowed.
  

We have a new player’s guide!
Confessionals
This game will use the HiddenGhosts Discord Server for spectating and player Confessionals. Each player who chooses to join will have their own channel for musing, taking notes, sharing pet pictures, speaking directly to the hosts, or anything else you like. Players will not be able to see any other channels until they are eliminated from the game, at which point they will be given the spectator role. If this is your first time joining, please choose a server nickname that is close to your Reddit username so who can tell who is who.
Timeline
April 25 - Signups open
May 2 - Signups will end at 9 pm EST. You will receive your confirmation PM shortly after. The Confirmation Phase will open, and you will have approximately 24 hours to confirm your intent to play the game.
May 3 - 9 pm EST deadline for confirmation. Any needed adjustments will be made, followed by Phase 0 being posted. Each phase will close at 9 pm EST going forward.

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Welcome people of Encanto, our beautiful little closed community. I'm Camilo Madrigal impersonating your usual news anchor. What are the news? Madrigals are back and better than before, ready to defend their casita and their magic. It looks like a sunny day today (thanks mom!) so if you've been putting away some garden work (unlike Isabela) or whatever now it's great time to catch up! About sport, the wrestling match was cancelled for low attendance of only 1 person - Luisa. Others didn't show up when they learned she is participating. That's all for today folks, might see you again next time if they let me in the studio again.

Meta

Hello all who decided to participate in Encanto rerun. Confirmation was skipped. Candle power for this game is 2. Game talk is allowed. Only wolf kill will go through this phase.

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I was watching one of the Smosh Reddit Stories episodes (the Chaotic episode) and someone confessed on here to faking being sick to get out of going to school, and while I never did that, it triggered another memory.
When I was about 12 or 13 in the late 00s (before I knew what I was doing), I would often use a sickness I had a few years prior to get out of P.E. class, and my mum would just believe me and send me to school with an excuse note and I'd be able to get out of class.
But one day she didn't sign a note and I really didn't want to do the activity that day, so I forged my mum's signature. I traced it, and practiced it over and over again until eventually I had something that could pass for her handwriting. It worked. My mum was none the wiser. And so, I did it again. I didn't abuse my power too much because I knew the teacher would get suspicious and call my mum and I'd get in trouble and I really didn't want to, so I would participate in class more often than not and only use my newfound power as a last resort.
Because of this (and the fact that my usual handwriting is cursive and no one can understand it) I've been able to develop a talent for writing in different fonts and styles.
But one day, one of my friends saw me faking a letter and asked about it. Because we were close, I told her the truth and she asked me to do one for her. I did and we both got out of P.E. Eventually, word spread around my year group that this was something I could do, and so some people would come and ask me for help. To the point where I had rules.
1) Come prepared with a viable excuse. 2) Come with an example of your parent's handwriting/signature. 3) Grass me up and I lie. I'm very good at it thanks to a life with narcissistic and emotionally unavailable parents, and my older sister's goodie two-shoes reputation passed down to me, too. Who are the teachers going to believe? The well-behaved, heavily bullied, younger sister of a straight A student? Or a kid who barely does their homework and has a record of detentions for misbehaviour?
The third one never would have happened anyway, given that my secondary school was in a working class neighbourhood in the UK, and you learn from a young age that no one likes a tell-tale.
And so, I developed a small business. Every lunchtime, breaktime, or periods before class, I would charge 50p per letter and forge my classmate's parent's signatures to help them get out of class. I would use that money to buy myself snacks at school, or at the bakery or convenience store down the street after school.
The teachers never confronted me about this. My mum, 15 years later still has no idea. "Well, why did you stop?" I hear you ask. Well, it did end up becoming too risky. Someone from a different year group who had a sibling in my sister's year found out what I was doing and I didn't want the heat. So I only did it for me and my best friend again and I kept it on the dl.
TLDR: I forged countless parent's signatures to help me and my classmates get out of P.E. class for a small price.

So casita revealed to Mirabel that the candle is in some kind of emergency protocol which was triggered by an attemptet theft. In the emergency mode the candle seeks protection in hands of random people (regradless of who they are or what their intentions are). It's basically impossible to predict where it's going to appear next. One thing's for certain though: the Madrigals must get it back where it belongs (abuela's windowsill).

Meta

u/redpoemage was asked to leave Encanto. He was a Madrigal.
u/bigjoe6172 had their door deactivated. He was a Madrigal.
(SlytherinBuckeye was also a Madrigal, my bad)
Vote tally:

Username	Number of votes
redpoemage	5
Greensilence2, K9yueyue	3
WizKvothe, Teacup_tiger	2

Strikes: wywy4321 and CometSmudge
Disclaimer 1: the turnover time was affected by daylight savings change which happened between rulespost day and game start day. I'm sorry for any confusion, the countdown is correct though.
Disclaimer 2: in the forms you don't really have to type out whole username of your target, just a shortened form that is clear enough will do (like K9yueyue -> K9)

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It was the first family meeting Madrigals ever had. Abuela was out of her mind. Of course she blamed Mirabel, although she had done literally nothing. "Mirabel and the Bruno's prophecy, they are both to blame. Now the candle is gone". Well, maybe if she didn't kick Bruno out of her family he might've told her where the candle is or what is going on. Anyway, while abuela was panicking the rest of the family started searching for more logical explanations. There must've been a thief and it for sure wasn't anyone from the Madrigal family. Their powers are very unstable with candle gone. But they do feel her presence, or at least some of them do. And then the others do. And then none of them do. Weird. Does the candle just jump from place to place? This sure does need some investigation. And who else should do it if not our amazing, powerless Mirabel!

Meta

18 players confirmed to play, 1 didn't (some PMs had a mistake in the potential players info, sorry about that). The most frequent answer was "Teleportation". The most interesting answer was "Power to fill any container I touch with clean, drinkable water with a single touch".
This phase, only wolf kill will go through, no town vote or actions are in play yet (and hence noone is holding the candle yet)
In this game the candle's power will be 4 (the player holding it, 4 players above and 4 players below them in roster will have their powers active). If the player doesn't have enough players above/below them in roster, it will affect the players from other end of roster (as if the roster went in circles).
Game talk is now allowed!

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I got this book from Half-Price books maybe 10+ years ago? It was a fantasy fiction novel for kids that was written as if it was an almanac/encyclopedia/what have you of different kinds of fairies. Pretty sure all instances of 'fairy' were spelled something like 'faery' or 'faerie.'
It's written from the perspective of a professor who studies fae creatures I think, and is an anthology of different examples she gives us, which include things like: - A girl trying to help an ugly mermaid become beautiful using her grandfather's advice, only for her to give the mermaid a record player and marilyn monroe vinyl. It's then revealed the mermaid is actually a siren, and she's been killing sailors now that she can play the record to lure them. - A pair of piano-playing twins who are world famous and have little music-loving fairies living in their pianos. The girls are cruel, and during a big performance one of them squishes a baby fairy under her shoe, causing the fairies to curse the two of them so that applause sounds like the worst sounds in the world, such as nails on chalkboard or falling bombs. - A young boy is stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in a tunnel, and leaves the car when he sees a weird little man go into a utility door. He follows the man and finds a magic orchard with rubies growing on the trees, which are being picked by gnomes. He waits until the gnomes go to sleep and starts stealing rubies, but gets caught and cursed to turn into an old man. When he escapes, his parents no longer recognize him and he's arrested for claiming to be their missing boy. He takes the rubies from his pockets and they've turned into either garbage or a dead rat.
I'm pretty sure there were 2 or 3 stories apart from these, including the last one which the in-universe author claims is one that happened to her. I also recall there being illustrations for the stories (one per story, maybe?) and they were black and white linework drawings. No color, and maybe minimal shading or toning.
I don't recall my cover ever having a dust jacket, but the book itself was just a plain black cover, and the typeface used for the title was a very very curly one. I don't think it was cursive, more like a standard font with curls added to the ends of the letters for flair. Googling things like "faery almanac/encyclopedia" doesn't turn it up, so I'm hoping someone here on Reddit might have some ideas! Thanks in advance to anyone that throws something out there.

https://imgur.com/a/ryIBq6F
u/PlentyComfortable239 Thank you for the cute vintage kitty card from 1979! So neat that your Grandma gave them to you, it makes carding fun to pass down some history, right? I love your positive energy! Wow, I dig your affinity for live jazz…I used to listen to live jazz back in college but haven’t heard any lately. I really like all the appreciation for jazz in the film La La Land! Thank you for your encouraging words offering love & hope & the neat stickers! You asked if anything “exciting” will be happening for me. I wouldn’t say it’s “exciting” lol but I enjoy crafting & take lots of library crafting classes. Most recently, I took a block printing class & designed my own stamps! That was super fun! I also created a “resin galaxy” that was awesome to do at the library because dealing with sticky resin at home can be a real pain so I prefer limiting my messes to the library haha! Hope you’re enjoying your new city & that you keep finding lots of cool places to explore!
u/tiredpantyhose Thank you so much for the neato Alice in Wonderland card & your kind wishes! Such fun artwork. :) I would totally dig checking out your husband’s corny jokes lol! Corny jokes can just make a blah day a little better, right? Here are a few for you: Hear about the pony that needed a glass of water? He was a little horse. Why did the police arrest the turkey? They suspected fowl play. Why do melons get married in church? Because they cantaloupe. ;) Happy spring, kind friend!
u/Powerful_Cobbler_215 Thank you for the Aloha postcard with your lovely excitement at passing on someone’s cards! That was so thoughtful of you to take your Goodwill stash & actually practice “goodwill”!!! :) Wishing you a sweet & sunny spring!
u/Justined0414 Thank you so much for the birthday postcard with your kind wishes! I appreciate you thinking of me & hope that the sunshine you sent my way comes right back to you, sweet soul! Hope you have moments as sweet as you!
u/lemonbeets911 Thank you for the pretty Crater Lake National Park postcard that you decorated so nicely with the fun stickers! Hope you have a gorgeous spring!
u/Sable__ Thanks for the cute Winnie the Pooh postcard! How amazing that you witnessed a shooting star - I never have but that’s a dream! So glad you were able to have such a fabulous experience! Hope you’re able to check out the upcoming total solar eclipse!
u/omggallout x 6 Thank you for the gorgeous artsy card from the Farmer’s Market & for introducing me to a talented artist! I totally agree with you about the mass cards available online lol. I can’t buy those either. I love that you support small businesses & independent artists! I also love the cute floral card featuring cool vintage recipes you sent & can’t wait to try some of them. They all look super fun & so unique! Thanks for the cuuute SG, Winnie the Pooh, mental health, & women in Art postcards! I’ve only seen the first season of “Stranger Things” so I need to catch up! You asked about my fave shows. They include “Mad Men”, “Downton Abbey”, “Breaking Bad”, “Community”, “The Office”, “Modern Family”, and most recently, “Beef” (this fun one caught me by surprise!). I’m open to lots of genres but am particularly drawn to dramas. :) Thanks also for the sweet stickers. :) Wishing you lots of joy as you hunt for treasures at upcoming Farmer’s Market excursions!
u/GhostChild25 Thanks for the hilarious bird expletives postcard hahaha! So fun. I appreciate you sending this fun, quirky card my way & hope you have a sweet spring!
u/HeyMorganM Thank you for the super cute teddy bear birthday postcard with your lovely washi & sticker decorations! Love your positive spirit! I appreciate you thinking of me on my birthday & hope that you will have an awesome birthday as sweet as you, kind friend!
u/FelineIntuition Thank you for the Queen of Carthage postcard! It makes me wonder if queens think they’ll be taken less seriously if they smile in their portraits lol! Hope you have a royal spring!
u/Keqani Thank you for thinking of me with the adorable The Tale of the Princess Kaguya postcard! So cute! I appreciate your kind wishes & hope your spring is sweet & sunny!
u/rosiealeo1 Thank you for this precious Loupaper chick & bunny postcard! I’d never seen it before & it is just too cute!!!! The illustrations are awesome. Hope your little one will be dressed as a chick at some point during spring lol - I recall how fun it was when my niece was a baby and I could make her dress up as anything I wanted hahaha! Now she’s a teenager so it’s too late. There is something adorable about little kids in chick costumes!!! Thank you for thinking of me & helping me build my lovely Loupaper collection!! Wishing y’all an egg-cellent spring, sweet friend!
u/a5k2h5 Thank you for your positive energy & the wonderful affirmations, which I will continue to reflect upon as often as possible! The mouse in its superhero costume is hilarious & the typewriter is so cute! Thank you for your efforts at spreading so many positive vibes. Here is an affirmation for you that I found particularly profound: "Make way for the unprecedented and watch your reality rearrange yourself.” - Poet Yrsa Daley-Ward Wishing you a breathtakingly beautiful present & future, kind friend!
u/mypetitmal Thank you so much for the super pretty celestial-themed card - I stared at it for ages! It had a calming effect on me, as do all your sweet, heartfelt cards! It’s always a great day when I hear from you, sweet friend! You asked about my V-Day. I have a wonderful boyfriend, but he has a chronic illness & was unable to spend any time with me. So I checked out a chocolate “tasting” class at the library that night. The dark chocolate was so much better than I thought it would be, ha! I usually prefer milk so it was nice to experience some decadent dark chocolate for a change. Hope all went well with the appointment you mentioned. Glad you were able to enjoy some coffee - you deserve a treat as warm & as sweet as you! I was also touched to hear about your meet-up to support the community. Your compassion knows no bounds, beautiful soul! I admire your drive & efforts to make the world a more loving, kind place. Thank you for your gracious thoughts - you absolutely exude the same wonderful vibes for me, & I’m so happy & grateful to have your friendship/awesome hugs! Wishing you sunny skies & smiles this spring, Beautiful! xoxo
u/AlfredTheButt-ler Thank you for the precious St. Patrick’s Day card featuring the crazy cuuuuute baby birds! I was touched with your desire to connect with lost loved ones. I’m so there with you on the weather in our state - seriously just fed up. I swear I’m going to “summer” elsewhere one day, if I can get my material life in order lol! But I think you’re being extremely modest with the wish for a marketable skill…it seems to me that JUST with your mail/kindness sending prowess, you obviously have loads of them! Not just organizational skills! You’re infinitely kind & caring - and that’s honestly so rare these days although I think that should be a bare minimum requirement for any type of endeavor!! You asked for my 3 wishes. I should have clarified that these wishes come after an automatic bonus of world peace so we can focus on what’s really important - ourselves. Just kidding haha!! But yes, assuming we’re gifted world peace, I’ll then take 1) eternal youth & beauty because I’m vain & shallow like that 2) a house of my own where I can have my own art studio so I don’t have to lug all my carding stuff back and forth to the library 3) to be effortlessly creative. Thank you for sending love my way! Hope you have a supremely sunny spring!
u/Strong-Finger-6126 Thank you for the cute blank smileys which will be awesome to pass on! Keep smiling, kind friend!
u/ninajyang x 2 Thank you for the beautiful birthday & coffee Loupaper postcards! I love how you would lounge in the sun as a royal kitty and that is HILARIOUS & so creative that you, as a royal kitty, would want your own pets!!! Hahaha that’s so cuuute!!! Like you, I would wanna be pampered all day long so I’ll take manis, pedis, & facials made with all kinds of fancy MILK (goat, oat, you name it!!)! And I would refuse to walk anywhere - I would insist on being carried on the shoulders of my employees in a fancy bed all decked out with fluffy pillows! Thank you for indulging me with your fun thoughts! Wishing you safe & happy travels (wish I had your jet-settin’ life!!), dearest Nina!
u/chiquita61 Thank you for the darling “Tea time” card - how I love the decorations & the super cute 3D tea bag/cut outs!!! Thank you also for the sweet stickers & cranberry apple tea, which looks so refreshing!!! Your positive energy just came popping out of this fun card - thank you for thinking of me! Wishing you the creamiest of clotted cream along with your delicious tea scones!
u/WickedMa There really is nothing wicked about you lol! You are the sweetest soul, and that comes across so strongly with all of the cuuuute cards you send!!! This bunny Easter card is just darling, as are you for thinking of me!!! Thank you for the insanely cute stickers as well! BTW I’m super excited to report that the library is hosting AN ADULT LITERARY-THEMED EASTER EGG HUNT NEXT WEEK! For years, I’ve been dragging my niece & nephews to Easter egg hunts so I’m thrilled to finally get some Easter egg love of my own! ;) I appreciate your constant love so very much & hope you have a fabulous Easter too!
u/kittycatcon You made my day twice - the day you selected me to be the recipient of this perfect “My Melody & Kuromi” card, & the day I received this treasure! It’s even more beautiful in person. This illustration is stunning. These cuties honestly make you appreciate the little magical moments in life, like connecting with friends who were once strangers, all through the mail! I appreciate you sending me this sweet card, which is now one of my all-time faves, & your happy vibes! Hope you settle in nicely to your new place & that it brings you lots of joy!
u/Pollotino Thank you for the sweet postcard featuring the girl holding the bunny! Hope you find the best apartment at the best price & that your new place, when you do find it, is a bastion of peace & comfort!
u/Mediocre_Radish_7216 Thank you for this insanely cuuuute leprechaun & smiling balloon card! These smiling balloons are to-die-for precious! You’re a born storyteller, my friend. I was smiling & giggling so much while reading your SIDESPLITTING, incredibly funny story of eating the inedible decorative apple in front of Ms. Posh LMAO!!!! I’ll bet that Ms. Posh just loves having you around purely for her own entertainment hahaha! If I were her, I would have honestly been so charmed by you & your heartwarming humility! Hope you don’t mind that I’m featuring the story in a highlighted pic for others to enjoy as well. :) You are so absolutely adorable & charming for sharing your stories with me! You’re so full of life, authentic, & just so entertaining!! Thanks also for the sweet hamrock sticker surprise you enclosed in the fun little washi/memo “compartment” you so creatively & cleverly created! Love this idea! Thank you for making my currently boring life so rich with your awesome stories!
u/CapnCobbler This bright, beautiful sun card makes me so happy, thank you! I absolutely love it, & the stunning Whitman quote you included, which is so profound that I have to share here: “Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and the shadows will fall behind you.” Truth!! I also love how you decorated the card with the word “Shine” for further inspiration! Thanks also for the pretty feather sticker. I really appreciate you sending sunshine my way & hope you have the sweetest, sunniest spring!
u/SweetyDarlingLulu x 2 Thank you for thinking of me with the fun dragon St. Patrick’s Day card, the cute dragon birthday card, & all your good wishes! I think I missed a post/announcement - are you a dragon enthusiast lol? I love it when people are passionate about certain topics! Your enthusiasm came blaring through! Hope you had a 17th full of luck & love!
u/laura_eva Thank you for the cute baby chick Easter card - what a sweetie, as are you for sending such joy my way! Thanks also for the pretty bird extra postcard to pass along. So many bird enthusiasts in our sub here, looking forward to sending him to a nice home! Hope your Easter is full of radiant roses & dazzling daisies!
u/seaofstars Thank you for one of the most gorgeous cards I have EVER received - so bright, full of color, & festive! I love it so much!!! My joy at gazing upon this beauty tripled when I read your heartfelt fortune for me, brimming with hope! Thank you for that - I really needed it! I so appreciate the time you took to write out my fortune in such depth complete with the signs and details on the tarot spread. Your encouragement & positive vibes mean a lot to me! Thanks again for the fun offer & for your fortune-telling savvy! Wishing you a future filled with love, laughter, & hope, sweet friend!
u/hoolu123 x 2 Thank you for the HILARIOUS Teddy Bear postcard, which is a real gem despite your obvious lack of love for it LMAO!! And I absolutely love the coloring postcard from Paris, ooh-la-la! I love to color & this series is one I definitely haven’t seen so I really appreciate it! Hope you had a fabulous time in the City of Love & that you enjoyed some decadent treats while abroad!
u/sourshrimpmaiden Thank you for the exquisite postcard of The Japanese Bridge featuring my favorite cherry blossoms! And I LOVE your gorgeous cherry blossom artwork!! You are so very talented! :) I was tickled by the fun fact that you shared, that “the first cherry blossom trees that were planted in the US was on March 27th, 1912” because that is my birthday (well at least the month and day hahaha, otherwise I’d be dead by now)!!! I’ve always been drawn to them because they’re just so pretty but now they mean even more to me. Thank you for brightening my day with your pretty art & friendly vibes! Hope you have a spectacular spring!
u/talkingishard33 Thank you for sharing your book recommendation with me - I look forward to checking it out!! Thank you also for the super cute stamp stickers! I highly recommend anything by Amor Towles. His book “The Gentleman in Moscow” & “The Lincoln Highway” are my faves! I also LOVE “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith. Wishing you fabulous reads, friend!
u/on1oman1ac Thank you for the beautiful illustrated “Go Places” postcard with your cute decorations & all the delicious-sounding Filipino dishes you described! I’m also obsessed with your cuuute, tiny handwriting - it’s so cute I just wanna hug it lol!!!! I wish I could write so magically mini like you! Hope you have a wonderful spring full of your fave foods, sweet friend!
u/raspberrypoppyseed x 3 Wow!! I felt so pampered with your beautiful, glittering gold envelope and all the gorgeous cards you included! Thank you! Thank you so much! They are all so elegant - the beautiful blue bird card is such a stunner! Thank you also for the kind birthday wishes, & the pretty, bright star-themed card along with the fabulous flair rhyme you wrote for me with your ChatGPT assistant! It’s darling! I really like your stickewashi decorations & your fancy personalized username stamp - that is just so elegant with the mini envelope & your pretty name in cursive! Love the font for the stamp too. You’re tempting me to get a personalized stamp too - so much style! I was so impressed by the unique way in which you folded the fish memo into an envelope for the stickers - so creative! Love your sticker style - the floral stickers are so elegant! Thank you for thinking of me with your kind, thoughtful offer to celebrate gold + flair!!! Hope you receive as many smiles & sunshine as you sent my way, kind friend!
u/inconsolableonion Thank you for the fun orange postcard & quirky anecdote about the bald eagle who dropped a fish on the road next to your car LOL!!!! I’m guessing the eagle thought you were super cute & wanted to buy you dinner. ;) I loved how you classified this incident as “just [insert your state name] things”!!! So is the rumor really true, that the wackiest things happen there? Thank you for brightening my day with the fun visual! Hope you stay safe & free of raining fish this spring! :)
u/mostlyblots Thank you for the absolutely adorable Easter card along with the super cute bunny washi & stickers!!! And I just love your calligraphy, wow! That is hilarious about the parsnips & so clever hahaha! I would be strict with the bunny and say that it’s either carrots or liver, up to him! And then when his lip would quiver, I’d say, “Okay, how about cake?” Unbeknownst to him, I would puree the carrots and bake it into a carrot cake. ;) Thank you for thinking of me with the fun card. Hope you have an egg-cellent Easter!
u/MamaBai Thank you for the super inspiring, gorgeous TJ’s card encouraging me to “Ride life like a lightning bolt”!! I love it!! The card itself was so motivating but the real treat was to read your own beautiful words that provided such comfort, peace, & joy! Your enthusiasm for life is just infectious! Thank you! You really are a super special person to spread so much kindness, compassion, warmth, & encouragement to strangers. I was genuinely touched by your reminder that we are all worthy & invaluable. I hope that the joy you spread so selflessly will return back to you a billionfold, you angel!!! :) I’m also excited that you recommended a playlist, which I look forward to checking out! Especially because it came from such a sweet soul!!! Thank you for bringing me sunshine & serenity, you beauty! I hope the world will treat you with as much kindness as you send out!
u/Rand_ston Thank you for the sweet “Thank you” card with the cute sticker party! I can’t wait to pass these sweeties along - thank you so much for your generosity & for thinking of me! Hope you have a beautiful spring!
u/wiifitboard Thank you for this beyond precious vintage-y illustrated card of the little one with the hole in his pants lol!!! Wherever did you find this gem?!? I also love the George Gershwin stamp - never seen it before! Thank you!! Hope you have a sunny, sassy spring!
u/duttonemelia Thank you for the cheerful St. Patrick’s Day shamrock card & all the good vibes you sent my way! Wishing you a pot of gold & perfectly ripe avocados, sweet friend!
u/FancyKiddens Thank you for the super fun Tony the Tiger upcycled postcard with all the fun facts! That would have been hilarious if “Elmo the Elephant” would have been the mascot instead. And it makes me wonder if Elmo from Sesame Street would have a different name/or even exist at all had Tony the Tiger gotten the shaft! Like a weird domino effect! I love learning about the history of popular culture so thank you for the cool history lesson!!! Wishing you cute baby chicks this spring, Darlin’!!
u/Elley_bean All I can think is…if this chick popping out of its egg card & stickers are this insanely cuuute, how cute must Elley bean be?!? Sight unseen, I just wanna pinch your cute cheeks, forgive me for saying so hahaha! Such adorable vibes could only come from the most adorable person! I’ll bet you always light up the lives of everyone around you in person, if you do so, this effortlessly, via mail! Thank you for making me smile & for brightening my day like you did! I hope you have a beautiful Easter!
u/rennbrig x 2 Thank you for the pretty bird card & your gorgeous new stationery card! So fancy! So fine! Exquisite choice, my friend! You write in style. :) I really like how your name is embossed (if that’s what it is lol) in gold & the floral print is so upscale! I loved learning that you’re into “House of Cards” - I am too!! But I have yet to finish it. I started it some years back & then fell behind when it returned. The only scene I recall from memory is when you know who shoved you know who off the subway platform!! That was one of the most intense scenes I have ever seen in tv/film history! Did you enjoy the later seasons as much as the earlier ones? Thank you for reminding me that I need to catch up! May as well start over. :) I’m in the middle of “Madam Secretary” right now. Seen it? Wishing you a spring full of thrilling, mind-bending shows, friend!
u/Kaposia Thank you for the beautiful card featuring Burke’s Book Store! I just love this series of postcards - the illustrations are just stunning! Hope you have a wonderful spring full of the best reads!
u/Hellonicetomeetyouuu Thank you for the precious “Meowgical” postcard that you decorated with such cute stickers & washi! I just loved reading how you’d lead a life as a royal kitty lol! You have fabulous taste, friend! I love how you’d require the affection of the King & Queen with goodnight kisses hahaha! What a way to make them YOUR subjects. ;) Also loved your affinity for comfy PJs. You are too cute! I would totally wanna lead that lush life you described. The only thing I would add - a personal court jester to entertain me with jokes/shows. ;) Thank you for thinking of me & for the spectacularly fun answer to my prompt! Hope you have a spring full of comforting delights like chocolate covered bunnies!

So I do calligraphy and I feel the need to have conniptions. Pliz to ignore impotent ranting if not of interest. Just completely oversprings my nib that this travesty is not only considered a design, but that it is without doubt infringing upon the RF territory with none of the years at the coalface (in context, it can take years to even get a royal warrant on an already extant product.) It's just another cheap cash-grab milking that connection and at this point I'm more angry with our Establishment who simply will NOT get to grips with rogue players. They didn't with Diana or Sarah F and this is the direct result when a barracuda enters and takes advantage of weakness.
First, that horrible logo. Why on earth use designs specific to flowing script - all those decorative placements are basic as, the whole things is unbalanced and stylistically, it doesn't fit the frame. Likewise, the ridiculous conceit of the central emblem reading A and R (and every other letter of the alphabet) which puts all the weight at the top. I have workbooks full of this sort of thing, it's the most basic flourish to learn and usually, it relies on a technicality of the nib to get gradual swells, not just a straightforward line. There's none of that here so why even....actually no, I know the answer to that one. She's relying on ignorance and being so incredibly amazing that of course we all want to buy her tacky overpriced beige crap *with her writing on.* It blows my mind she's doing tableware - does she have no idea of all the historical china houses? I don't know about the US but here, the kind of people buying high-end china are not looking to just get some noovy trinket - the majority are buying fine china for longevity and if royal stardust matters to you, firms like Royal WorcesteSpode or Royal Doulton come with far more of it plus hundreds of years of history and hand-finishing. Stamping your shite logo on some random plate ain't the deal....we're not posh but we do each have a posh china set (except Mum "borrowed" mine cos she likes it more than hers. So now I have to eat my Pot Noodle without presenting it properly. Snoutrage, innit?) - one of the tells of posh china is that it isn't uniform. This? If it ever materialised is going to be the standard undecorated white plate that's already been done to overpriced death by slebchefs all slapping their name on identical factory lines.
Although on the plus side I can see the sugars buying it then having no idea what you do with plates that aren't plastic. Never let it be said that Himbo and Bimbo have appeal to anything other than the lowest common denominator. Some poor sod is going to deck a table out in matching Archfail crap with no idea that's about as infra -dig as you can get. I suppose the bonus is that they'll throw it in the bin afterwards along with all the other disposables.
But calligraphy boring drivel aside (thank you for coming to my TedRant) - the script at the bottom is the most interesting. I checked out Mugsy's "calligraphy" way back and found some wedding invitations she's supposed to have done and yes, she can do the basics. So this orgy of self-glorification not only gave us the ChipPan Ghost* but she thinks her writing - which is the most basic cursive with random ascenders and descenders - is so revelatory, so recognisable, that it only makes sense to use it? SO much easier than putting in the years at the design coal-face and elevating an artisan in the process, as all the Palaces do.
No calligrapher I know ever just adds random flourishes. My everyday scrawl isn't improved by the fact I do calligraphy and adding glitter to the pig just gets you a you a pig covered in glitter. So there's this faux crest, a hideously noovy creation by itself, underscored by writing so famous we all recognise it immediately rather than some formal script? Holy fuck, what kind of ego....? It's like those mental Russian oligarchs wives who'll buy anything if it's got enough gold on, but real class is quiet and understated. Gold on cream is soooooo trashy and you have to be so careful with it, which is why the nobbery stick to dark colours, elegant fonts and classic hands.
She chose this. They now have four (including Ingriftus, which only exists to showcase Supermog's moddle skills. Or lack of) separate brands and none of them are producing anything. Nobody knows if there's a central brand, nobody knows how each arm plays in....there's nothing cohesive here. And logos tell us a lot. I'd think this was Etsy -level, it's just not professional artist level unless the "vision" was so intrusive the artist just gave up and added learner-squiggles - why should an artist care about the structure of a piece when our "calligrapher" doesn't? But the hubris of choosing your overblown, pretentious everyday writing is just....wow.
Every time I think they can't get more low-end they surprise me, surely there can't be much further down. We might all have stopped laughing at her by the time she hits solid . Maybe. Ok, miracles happen, alright?
*per previous. To get a softened portrait photogs used to smear vaseline in the lens. Except everything was bleary and yellow then she's poncing around in a ball gown at home like some raddled Havisham haunting Casa Gobshite, the ancient family seat. That's not vaseline, it's dipping the camera in the chip pan then behaving like a demented spanner. For this, she will ever be the Chip-pan Ghost in my mind 😁

Today's Reading on "Health and Wellness"...

• BalancedBadgerHug pulled the 10 of Wands ... The cards acknowledge how tedious your health regimine has become, but they encourage you to keep it up.
• Booderkeistush pulled the Queen of Goblets ... Focus on breathing exercises and mindfulness and maybe some yoga.
• bubbasaurus pulled the 17.The Star ... It may feel like an uphill battle right now, but if you keep at it, you'll get where you are hoping to be.
• CometSmudge pulled the 10 of Swords ... Follow all safety guidelines or you will face grave news.
• isaacthefan pulled the 9 of Swords ... Be mindful of your health, poor news may be around the corner if you haven't gotten it already.
• Rysler pulled the 9 of Wands ... You will recover from your most recent injury if you just keep at it.
• So0meone pulled the 8 of Wands ... Work on your calisthenics, get your heart rate moving.
• Strigiforma7 pulled the 04.The Emperor ... Consider seeking the help of a professional fitness instructor if you really want to reach your fitness goals.
• sylvimelia pulled the 8 of Swords ... Reflect on ways you are sabotaging your own health and keeping you from what you want to do.
• Wizkvothe pulled the 10 of Pentacles ... The cards are recommending that you reflect on your genetics and how that impacts your health these days.
• ZerotheStoryteller pulled the 9 of Pentacles ... It's time for a spa day to treat your body. "

The following players were in Today's Vote Pool...
BalancedBadgerHug, Catchers4life, Intelligent_dog_483, sylvimelia
The following players have joined the spirits in the greater beyond...
"* Intelligent_dog_483 a Swords * sylvimelia a Wands "
Tonight's Tarot Reading will be about...

Friendships

Please submit your action through the ACTION FORM as always, expect a delay to get it open after turn over
Countdown for Phase End can be found HERE

Today's Reading on Passion...

• BalancedBadgerHug pulled the Ace of Wands ... The cards see great things ahead of you for your project.
• bigjoe6172 pulled the 06.The Lovers ... Don't forget to show that special someone what they mean to you.
• Booderkeistush pulled the 2 of Wands ... A solid foundation is required before you can keep going, take the time needed.
• bubbasaurus pulled the 7 of Swords ... Make sure you build your strategy for how to protect your passions from the haters. They want to undermine you.
• Catchers4life pulled the 6 of Wands ... With great passion comes great reward, bask when the time is right.
• CometSmudge pulled the 8 of Swords ... The cards know you feel strongly about this matter, but maybe it isn't the best use of your energy.
• Intelligent_dog_483 pulled the King of Wands ... Keep the big picture in mind while you're working on your passion.
• isaacthefan pulled the 01.The Magician ... If you build it, they will come.
• kemistreekat pulled the 18.The Moon ... Trust your intuition on how you should channel your passions.
• NotNuttyRaven pulled the 10 of Wands ... You're taking care of your loved ones, are they taking care of you?
• Rysler pulled the Queen of Goblets ... Company is what you should focus on, build your support network.
• So0meone pulled the 8 of Wands ... Follow your passion and make some quick decision, the time is NOW!
• Strigiforma7 pulled the 9 of Wands ... Make sure you are building up a strong foundation to grow your passions on.
• sylvimelia pulled the 04.The Emperor ... The cards say you'll make a great father or father-like role in someone's life.
• teacup_tiger pulled the 7 of Wands ... Keep in control, you know what you're doing.
• Wizkvothe pulled the 10 of Swords ... The cards don't see a lot of good news ahead of you, tread carefully.
• Wywy4321 pulled the 9 of Swords ... Focus on caring for yourself here, everything else can wait.
• ZerotheStoryteller pulled the 3 of Wands ... The cards say to expect quick returns and rapid growth soon, your investments are paying off.

The following players were in Today's Vote Pool...
bubbasaurus, NotNuttyRaven, Wywy4321
The following players have joined the spirits in the greater beyond...

• NotNuttyRaven a Trump

Tonight's Tarot Reading will be about...

Weather

Please submit your action through the ACTION FORM as always, expect a delay to get it open after turn over
Countdown for Phase End can be found HERE

Today's Reading...

• BalancedBadgerHug pulled the 5 of Wands ... You're in competition to get what you deserve, fight for it.
• bigjoe6172 pulled the 5 of Pentacles ... The cards acknowledge your difficulties here, but have no advice.
• Booderkeistush pulled the Queen of Wands ... Do what you enjoy to earn your money, it will be worth it.
• bubbasaurus pulled the 01.The Magician ... You have the drive to earn what you deserve, have faith in yourself.
• Catchers4life pulled the 8 of Swords ... Stop making stupid choices with your money, you're only hurting yourself.
• CometSmudge pulled the 4 of Pentacles ... A penny saved is a penny earned, start building up that nest egg.
• Intelligent_dog_483 pulled the 7 of Swords ... Someone is lying to you about your money, figure out a plan to work around them.
• isaacthefan pulled the Page of Wands ... Enjoy what your money can do for you, not what you can do for your money.
• kb_black pulled the 9 of Swords ... It's rough right now, the cards agree. Take the time you need to heal.
• NotNuttyRaven pulled the 4 of Wands ... Don't be afraid to spend some money to enhance the home and celebrate where you are at life.
• Rysler pulled the 6 of Swords ... The methods you have been trying aren't working, move on and try something new.
• So0meone pulled the 9 of Wands ... It seems rough, but you'll get through this, just keep up with what you know to do.
• Strigiforma7 pulled the 7 of Wands ... Stay in control and have faith in your methods, even if the face of doubt.
• sylvimelia pulled the King of Wands ... Start focusing on the bigger picture and what you are saving towards.
• teacup_tiger pulled the 21.The World ... You're getting so close to your goal, take the time to enjoy it once you're there.
• TheLadyMistborn pulled the 8 of Wands ... Now! Do it now! You know what you have to do, and the cards say do it NOW!
• Wizkvothe pulled the 5 of Swords ... Take the risk, you know you want to.
• ZerotheStoryteller pulled the 6 of Wands ... Keep an eye out for good news and recognition from your employer.

The following players were in Today's Vote Pool...
Intelligent_dog_483, SlytherinBuckeye, Wywy4321
The following players have joined the spirits in the greater beyond...

• Chefjones a Pentacles withdrawn
• SlytherinBuckeye a Trump
• TheLadyMistborn a Wands

Tonight's Tarot Reading will be about...

PASSIONS

Please submit your action through the ACTION FORM
Countdown for Phase End can be found HERE
I think I actually did everything right this turn over?

Today's Reading on Hobbies and Leisure...

• -Forsi- pulled the 8 of Wands ... NOW NOW NOW! You know what choice needs to be made, do it NOW!
• BalancedBadgerHug pulled the 2 of Goblets ... Yes, your hobby can be used as a great way to meet people!
• bigjoe6172 pulled the 10.Wheel o' Fortune ... It may be time to refresh your hobby and switch things up.
• Booderkeistush pulled the 10 of Swords ... Cards are not hopeful here, it might be time to fold your hand.
• bubbasaurus pulled the 3 of Pentacles ... Find a partner to work with to the next step of your hobby.
• Catchers4life pulled the 01.The Magician ... Keep working at it and you'll get where you want to be. Visualize your goal.
• Chefjones pulled the 10 of Wands ... You may be tired of feeling like the 'mom' of your hobby, but remember how to feel pride in that.
• CometSmudge pulled the Page of Wands ... Bring some creativity to your hobby, don't be tied down to what is expected or the presumed rules.
• Intelligent_dog_483 pulled the Knight of Goblets ... Now is not the time to get caught up in the responsible choice. Do what you love.
• isaacthefan pulled the 03.The Empress ... Do you have a new mother or mother-to-be in your life that could benefit from your hobby skills? Focus on that.
• NotNuttyRaven pulled the 5 of Pentacles ... The cards are saying you're spending too much money on your hobbies.
• SlytherinBuckeye pulled the 6 of Swords ... It's time to set aside what doesn't bring you joy and look for something new.
• So0meone pulled the 2 of Pentacles ... Don't be afraid to prioritize yourself and your hobbies when it's called for. You need love too.
• Strigiforma7 pulled the Ace of Wands ... You will soon create something new, if you can just keep at it.
• sylvimelia pulled the 9 of Wands ... Your grit will get you to the skill lever you desire.
• teacup_tiger pulled the 15.The Devil ... Don't forget that hobbies are to be fun and bring you joy.
• TheLadyMistborn pulled the 6 of Pentacles ... Look into ways to give back to the community with your hobby.
• Wizkvothe pulled the Knight of Pentacles ... You're ready to move on to the next skill level. Trust yourself.
• ZerotheStoryteller pulled the 7 of Pentacles ... Keep training and you'll see your skills grow soon. "

The following players were in Today's Vote Pool...
-Forsi-, bubbasaurus, SlytherinBuckeye
The following players have joined the spirits in the greater beyond...

• -Forsi- a Trump "

Tonight's Tarot Reading will be about...

FINANCES

Please submit your action through the ACTION FORM please forgive the delay to have form open
Countdown for Phase End can be found HERE
Haven't caught up on all the comments while I was sick, but I am feeling better. Thank you for your patience, I was also able to get some bugs in the sheet handled.
Day Light Savings is in effect now, apologizes for not including a note about that. I always forget which side of sunday it happens. I also noticed the bottom half of the last phase seems to be missing, so I'll be working on restoring that tomorrow. Not sure when that happened.

Today's Reading on Romantic Interests...

• -Forsi- pulled the 5 of Goblets ... Take all the time you need to lick your wounds and work on recovery.
• BalancedBadgerHug pulled the 8 of Goblets ... Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is step away from what needs to be stepped away from.
• bigjoe6172 pulled the 20.Judgement ... You must face what you've done head on and grow from it.
• Booderkeistush pulled the Ace of Wands ... Do something creative for the person that you love, you know what they deserve.
• bubbasaurus pulled the 11.Justice ... Be honest about what everyone has done, you know the next steps to take.
• Catchers4life pulled the 5 of Swords ... You know what you want, but make sure you are balanced with what the other party wants too.
• Chefjones pulled the 17.The Star ... Have faith in your love life or partner, things will be getting even better soon.
• CometSmudge pulled the 03.The Empress ... Embrace the fertile grounds available from your love.
• Greensilence2 pulled the 18.The Moon ... Don't lie to yourself, you know what you need to do here.
• isaacthefan pulled the 10 of Pentacles ... What will you be leaving behind? What will people remember you for?
• kb_black pulled the Page of Pentacles ... Are you working towards your long term goals? Because you should be.
• NotNuttyRaven pulled the 06.The Lovers ... Above all else, remember your promises and your partnership.
• Rysler pulled the King of Swords ... Don't let your heart get away from you, make the smart decision.
• SlytherinBuckeye pulled the 2 of Swords ... You need to find the compromise in your situation.
• So0meone pulled the 00.The Fool ... Make sure you are keeping things fresh at home, enjoy learning something new about your loved one.
• Strigiforma7 pulled the 09.The Hermit ... Some solitude would benefit you, to give you space and time to know what you want.
• sylvimelia pulled the 6 of Wands ... Enjoy the love from the crowd to cheer you on and bring that love home.
• Theduqoffrat pulled the King of Pentacles ... Seek the comfort and advice of a strong male figure in your life.
• TheLadyMistborn pulled the 7 of Pentacles ... Keep at it, things are improving and it will be worth the wait.
• Wizkvothe pulled the 14.Temperance ... Take time to talk things out and work as a team. You have a partner.

The following players were in Today's Vote Pool...
Theduqoffrat, Wizkvothe, Wywy4321
The following players have joined the spirits in the greater beyond...

• Greensilence2 a Pentacles
• HedwigMalfoy a Goblets
• Theduqoffrat a Trump

Tonight's Tarot Reading will be about...

Hobbies and Leisure

Please submit your vote & action through the ACTION FORM
Countdown for Phase End can be found HERE
GAME INFORMATION. Information about the game mechanics will not be provided other than in Meta at turn over. Questions about your own role can still be answered in PMs or Discord, as needed. You may tag the host account or submit questions via Discord or direct PM with questions.
As a reminder, if you have received a Suit card with a number (2-9) or ace, you are a PIP card, and do NOT have the ability to submit an action. If you have received a Suit card with a Court Role (King, Queen, Page, Knight) THAT is when you have the ability to use an action.
The Hanged Man forgoes a vote death.
The vote pool is all players that received the top 3 values of votes.
There is a slight delay on the form opening and the post going live. Please be patient.
I hope that provides all the clarity needed.

Hi you guys!! I'm half Georgian, and I am proud of this part, but I realized that I can't be proud of being Georgian without knowing language. So I started to learn it. Well..writing is problematic for me. And even if I figured out how to write a letter, I still have a lot of questions. Are there cursive letters in the Georgian language? How to connect the letters correctly? Do georgians use a printed font, or do they write in some other way? I can't find examples. And if this post is read by any Georgians, I am really asking you to help me, can y'all show some example of the text you wrote? it doesn't really matter what's your text says. Thanks in advance!