This cosplayer did a fantastic job of portraying Ursula! I love her necklace.
Only Human (Serial Story) Part 11
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 |
Part 10
Ginny had fallen unconscious from blood loss. Rachel took her knife back up and shuddered at what she had to do next. She had to cut the flesh that had touched the holy oil. It infected and necrotised the flesh of a vampire, who were not actually undead.
After cutting up her best friend, she reached into the fridge for a bottle of artificial blood and fed it to Ginny. She woke up part way though feeding and screamed in pain. Her wound started to close slowly as security arrived.
She told them everything, except her being human and hunting for her sister’s killer.
When they left, Ginny insisted she stay in the same room. As she cuddled with the sobbing vampire, Rachel couldn’t help but feel like her quest to find her sister’s killer was hopeless.
* * *
There was no heat in the bed with Ginny. The extremely low body temperature of vampires must have been the root of the rumours about them being dead.
It was cold and Rachel was sore from her various fights of late. She’d come close to death that night. When Ginny had fallen asleep she got up and walked around, cleaned the kitchen, and did some studying.
When she went to the washroom, the toilet seat hurt her back. She rolled up the t-shirt she’d changed into and saw a perfectly circular bruise where she’d been hit by the wizard’s spell. It was as wide as her hand was long and just above her bellybutton. She touched it and it stung, the skin felt sensitive. It felt like she had burned her skin and bruised. Looking at her back in the mirror she saw that she had an identical bruise on her back.
“I hope this isn’t all in my head,” she whispered.
The whispered words connected with something inside her and she felt dizzy. A flash of memories burned into her brain.
* * *
“It’s all in your head, Natasha,” Rachel yelled at her little sister when the treehouse was empty.
The adult Rachel could see her younger self and sister arguing about the existence of what they’d always called cryptoids. Rachel was firmly convinced they didn’t exist, it took Natasha’s death to convince her.
Natasha was nine in this memory or vision and Rachel was eleven. It was when she’d stopped wanting to play at hunting mythical creatures.
Adult Rachel tried her best to ignore what was going on and not look at her sister. It hurt too much. Instead she concentrated on the treehouse, everything in it, and everything around it.
“You’re mean and I hate you!” yelled Natasha as she climbed down the rope ladder.
Younger Rachel rolled her eyes and yelled back, “You’re just a baby who still believes in monsters and fairies!”
As she watched the past, Rachel saw something behind her younger self. It looked vaguely human shaped but cloaked in shadows that shouldn’t exist on that bright summer’s day. As she watched in horror the shadow smiled a bright Cheshire cat smile at her younger self and slowly looked up at her. When she started to think it could see her, she said, “Can you see me?” It winked at her and she found herself once again looking at her bruise in the bathroom mirror.
Her phone rang.
* * *
“So I heard you and my sister cuddled last night. Should I be worried?” Ronnie asked as she distractedly walked across campus.
“Not from her,” replied Dowan appearing on the other side of her.
The two men followed her as she continued to walk. After her waking dream she’d contacted her divination teacher, who’d invited her to meet in the morning at her office.
“Ginny’s prettier than either of you, both of you should be worried.” Rachel said over their bickering.
Pulling a coffee from the air, Dowan asked, “How is she, by the way?” He was the one who’d called her after her vision.
Ronnie replied, “She’s fine. Tim’s with her.” When Dowan gave him a funny look, he added, “The little dude is awesome and makes her feel comfortable.”
“He has my gun and he’s a specialist in ‘Metaphysical Transfiguration’,” Rachel said shrugging.
“Do you know what that means?” asked Dowan.
“Do you?” snapped Ronnie.
“No,” replied Dowan.
“Me neither.”
Both of them burst out laughing and looked at Rachel. “He tried to explain it to me and I think I fell asleep. Something to do with changing things that aren’t tangible into something you can touch and manipulate.” Rachel couldn’t help joining into the laughter. The three of them had to stop walking they were laughing so hard.
Both men knew where she was going. She’d told Dowan when he called and she’d told Ronnie when he and Tim showed up to take care of Ginny.
The three of them walked in comfortable silence until they reached their teacher’s office in the Blue Wizards’ School of Divination and Illusion.
The office was small and cramped. It had four desks shoved in the middle together and it looked like the office was shared by multiple professors. The Hag, their teacher, was sitting with pink spectacles on her warty nose, grading essays.
They awkwardly filled into the room and Rachel told her all the details of her dream, or vision.
“Oh my dear. That’s terrible,” the Hag said, looking distraught.
“Am I getting visions or memories?” asked Rachel.
“Oh definitely a vision. You have great divinatory powers. It’s a rare power for a demi-god. Normally it’s a human trait.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Humans are the most powerful divinatory beings. They can feel the magic around them and use it instinctually. It’s fascinating they have no clue how powerful it is. They call it good reflexes, luck, or gut instincts, but it’s all because they’re more attuned to the magic of time and knowledge.”
“Wow,” said Ronnie.
“You’re human, aren’t you, dear?” the Hag asked.
Changing the subject, Rachel asked, “What about the Shadow Man I saw in my vision. Do you know who that is?”
“Yes but…” she trailed off. Sighing deeply she said, “It sounds like the Smiling Dark. Subridens Tenebris.”
Both men gasped and Dowan said, “That’s just a myth, right? A story that parents tell their kids to make sure they behave.”
“Says the trickster spirit, to the Hag, standing next to a vampire,” deadpanned Rachel.
Smiling, Dowan lifted his hands. “Good point.”
“How do I find it?” asked Rachel, feeling closer than she’d ever been before.
From the crowded bookshelf, a shadow moved. At first Rachel thought it was from the clouds shifting, but it was an overcast day. It floated behind the Hag, and in one swift movement pulled out her heart.
“Shhh,” said the shadow. “That’s enough information for my new bride.”
Blush: Oral Sex
So far we have received almost three digits worth of questions, but I’m greedy, and I want more! Ask us your anonymous questions here!
I thought for a long time about whether I should include topics like this one. Then I realized that this is the entire point of this project. We need to discuss topics that make us uncomfortable in order to erase the stigma that surrounds them. And oral sex needs to be discussed especially, because of the dangers that come with it.
Question
What’s so dangerous about oral sex?
Answer
Oral sex is dangerous if you don’t use protection. People are less likely to use protection for oral sex because you aren’t going to get pregnant. Barriers like condoms and dental dams protect against more than pregnancy though; they protect us from sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Not all STIs show visual symptoms, including HIV. Until you and your partner are certain that neither of you have an STI (testing is fairly simple in North America), use a barrier to prevent transmission.
Question
What sort of barriers are you talking about? I hate the taste of latex – I don’t want to use it!
Answer
Condoms (for fellatio) and dental dams (for cunnilingus) are standard use items. If you don’t happen to have a dental dam handy, a condom can easily be turned into one using some easy steps. A natural rubber latex sheet is also safe to use, as are latex gloves.
I’m resisting the urge to say that if you don’t like the taste of latex, don’t give oral sex. No-one is forcing you to give oral, and if they are, you should reconsider being with that person.
However, here are some actual tips:
- Buy flavoured condoms or dental dams. Dental dams are fairly new to the market, but they still have one or two flavours. Sex shops might have them in more.
- Use flavoured lubricant. You should be using water-based lube on the side of the latex that it touching skin anyways, and you can add some on the other side to remove the taste of the latex (somewhat. It’s not perfect.).
Do NOT flip the dental dam over and use the other side once it has been used on one side. I think that goes without saying, but there you go. I said it anyways.
DO hold the dental dam in place with your hands. It doesn’t do you any good if it moves around.
Be safe, and have fun.
References
http://www.sexualityandu.ca/stis-stds/how_do_i_protect_myself_from_stis_stds/dental_dam
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/oralsex.html
Santa (or should we tell children the secret?)
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
Let’s talk about the most imaginary of friends, Santa Claus. I read an article called “In Defence of Santa Claus” and it made me think. (Sorry, no angry rant)
I’m not sure what to do when I, eventually, have children. I discovered the truth about Santa when I was relatively young. It wasn’t a shock or really much of anything. I just realized that my mom and brother had put out the presents.
My wife, on the other hand, was told on the bus and got into a fight (not physical – it involved a lot of yelling) about it and wouldn’t believe it even when her parents told her.
Why was it harder for her than for me? I don’t know. Maybe it was the level of honesty of our parents? My wife’s parents were always completely honest with her.
My mom, on the other hand, reveled in telling fanciful lies. She had me convinced for a long time that one of our ancestors had created French Fries. She even had a long elaborate story to go with it. It was her way of both teasing and training me not to believe everything I hear. They were always interesting and fun. (I miss her.)
So what does that mean? What does a little fib matter if it brings magic to the holidays? Saying that Santa brings magic, makes it sound like those who discover the secret don’t have magical holidays. That’s simply not true. There’s something special about the holidays that is more than the sum of its parts.
I’m leaning towards letting my future kids know that it’s a story. Does that make me:
What’s your opinion on Santa? Malicious lie or Fanciful fib?
Éric
Tank you!
In honour of Remembrance Day, this month contained pictures from the D-Day celebrations in Normandy.
Outside of Operation Overlord Museum at Omaha Beach, with one of the C-7 tanks.
WWII Memorial
In honour of Remembrance Day, the next few weeks will contain some pictures from the D-Day celebrations in Normandy.
Carentan. The WWI memorial that is now dedicated to both wars. I didn’t want to walk across the dance platform because I thought it would be out of bounds. (It wasn’t) It was set up for the D-Day celebrations, because there was going to be a town dance.
Only Human (Serial Story) Part 10
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
After a night of dates and kissing, Rachel felt drained and tingly. She knew that the two men would want her to choose eventually; their fight in the cafeteria proved that, but for tonight she was going to bask in the rare attention.
Growing up in an orphanage and foster homes made it hard enough to make friends but being built like a professional linebacker meant not many boys had been interested in her. Add her fixation with finding what killed her sister and she made people uncomfortable. Apparently she didn’t make monsters uncomfortable, considering how the two men had been reacting.
They were both surprisingly good kissers, she thought, and couldn’t help but smile. Ronnie was gentle and attentive while Dowan was strong and passionate. She wondered if their kissing would be the same as their lovemaking. Even alone, she blushed at the idea.
The excitement of the day slowly washed over her and she started to feel drowsy. Her eyes felt heavy but her lips still tingled. “What a great way to fall asleep,” she thought.
On the border between reality and dreams she sat up. Fully awake her heart beat in terror. Something was wrong. She didn’t know what or why she thought it, but she trusted her instinct enough to get up and arm herself. She was thankful to have forgotten to change. It made re-arming much easier.
Once armed, she looked around, feeling a little silly. Slowly she walked across the room to her door and quietly opened it. It was dark but she could see a shadow moving. The light to the kitchen area was next to her door and she flicked the light bringing up her crossbow. She’d decided against the gun, not wanting anyone to investigate her.
The shadow froze as it was bathed in light. It was a man, dress in a long leather coat. He had black hair tied in a ponytail and he was carrying a giant knife in one hand and a large gun in the other, on his belt you could see these swiss army knives. Both the gun and the knife had strange swirling symbols on them. The moment she saw him she shot at him. He deflected the crossbow bolt with his knife and gave her a big smile.
“Ah! So you heard me coming. Good job.”
She didn’t reply, just reloaded the crossbow and shot again. He didn’t move, but the moment the arrow came close to his coat it flew off in a ninety-degree angle and hit Ginny’s door.
“I bet you didn’t expect it to be me?” He asked with a smug smile.
Opening her door, Ginny looked at the man and asked, “Who’s this guy?”
“I have no idea.” Rachel couldn’t remember where or if she’d seen the man before. He seemed a little familiar.
“What?” The man looked confused. “You’ve been following me since that first night.” The man was yelling. “You attacked my friend Sylar…” he trailed off.
“The Cyclops?” She asked.
“Yeah, and then you killed my roommate from Quebec.” He must have meant the thing attacking Tim. “I thought you were a Huntress and I’d heard they were territorial so I sent one after you, but you survived.”
“You didn’t kill my sister,” Rachel was disappointed.
“Of course not. I’m a wizard not a murderer. But tonight you walked into the Atlantean restaurant that I work at and I knew you were on to me.”
Moving at super-human speeds, Ginny appeared behind the man. She picked him up and said, “You’re an idiot and a jerk.” It looked like she was going to toss him at the door when he sliced down with his blade and cut deep into her thigh. She screamed and dropped him.
“Dipped in holy water and garlic oil,” he bragged as Ginny screamed and bled.
Knowing that she had to act quickly if she was going to save Ginny, Rachel said, “Impressive, did you make those yourself?” she gestured with the crossbow at his weapons and coat.
Puffing up, he said, “Yeah. Nice aren’t th—”
He was cut off by her dropping the crossbow and unsheathing her knives. The enochian runes glowed as she sliced at the gun first. It was obviously not spelled and her knives cut through it easily. With the biggest threat to her life gone she proceeded to position herself between the crazy wizard and Ginny.
“The gun wasn’t important. A prepared wizard can’t be defeated,” he said, his voice cracking.
Lunging at him, she cut through the runes on his coat and nicked his side. She saw blood darkening his shirt. “What were you prepared for?” Since he’d made his own equipment, she knew her weapons, which she’d gotten blessed and spelled by four separate expert practitioners, were more powerful than anything he could have made alone.
“I added some dragon blood to the blade and prepared a spell for you,” he smirked.
Rachel almost laughed, but managed an approximation of worry. He still thought she was a demi-god. Dragon’s blood was one of the only ways to kill a demi-god.
He started a spell, “Propter quam causam admoneo te tu me fascinavit. Tu melius prohibere ea quae facis. EGO iustus non potest stare , tu mihi semper.” It had an almost lyrical sound to it.
His blade glowed with power that shot from it and hit her before she had a chance to move. The energy hit her and went straight through her.
“Nice tune but you can’t really dance to it.” She said it seriously, but inside, was extremely happy to finally get off a good quip. She was also happy to be alive.
“That should have paralyzed you…” He stepped back and hit the wall.
Advancing on him, she brought up both her blades. He half-heartedly lifted his and she sliced through it easily. Sheathing a blade, she grabbed his throat and said, “I’m going to tell you this once and only once. I’m not out to get you. These were all coincidences. The only person I plan on hunting is the one who killed my sister.” He tried to nod. “Now you’ve hurt my best friend and made the best day of my life a little worse. I want you to promise me you’re never going to come after me again.” When he didn’t say anything or move, she squeezed a little and he gargled.
She let him go.
“I won’t come after you again.” His eyes were on the ground.
“Good. Now don’t move.” She tied him up and called campus security.
Magischola
If you’re involved in any sort of Harry Potter community, you’ve probably heard about the LARP (Live-Action Role Play) that ran for four days in Czocha Castle, Poland. It was organized by the College of Wizardry, and the first event was so popular, that they opened up several more weekends. They currently (at the time of this article) only have a few spaces left April 21-24.
This idea was so well received in Europe that the Americas wanted to host one of their own.
Enter Magischola. A Kickstarter to get tickets for two weekends in summer 2016, that only launched on November 23, 2015, has already reached $161,640 (at the time of this article)! Last night (November 24), they opened a third weekend in July 2016, and I bet it’s already sold out as well. (Predicting the future! I should study Divination, if I’m correct.)
For those of us who are not going, the stretch goals include a 15 minute documentary (already reached) and a 30 minute documentary (reached at 180K). I’m excited to see this. We will have a guest post in late 2016, written by one of the attendees, about their time at the event.
Do you have questions? They have answers! I learned that the University campus is wheelchair accessible, and will accept service animals. Currently, they only offer this event for ages 18+, but if they make enough money through the Kickstarter (300K), they will offer a family-friendly summer camp type event in summer 2017, that will include children ages 11-17.
Magischola will be offering their LARP on the campus of the University of Richmond, in Richmond Virginia on the Eastern coast of the United States. You can only buy tickets through the Kickstarter, and these tickets will cover your accommodation and meals during your intended stay.
But how will you get there?
People who are close can travel by car, or by AMTRAK train, but if you’re further away, flights will probably be best. The organizers will be looking into getting a shuttle from both the airport and the train station, once they know how many people will be travelling from each.
If you’d like help booking your train or flight tickets.Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.
ChiSeries Ottawa: Holiday Extravaganza (Tonight)
Hello,
After an extremely successful weekend at Pop-Expo (You guys rock!), we’ve accepted an invitation to join ChiSeries Ottawa Presents: Holiday Extravaganza 2015.
For one night only, tonight, there will be all kinds of stuff and things at Maxwell’s on Elgin Street.
Entry is free and it’ll be your last chance, unless you commission, to get holiday gifts from us.
Also we’re donating a super-awesome-fantastic gift bag for the raffle.
Hope to see you there,
Éric
Saint-Lo
In honour of Remembrance Day, the next few weeks will contain some pictures from the D-Day celebrations in Normandy.
Small town Saint-Lo