The Tea Tree

1) ( Some AG rewrite under here )

2) ( And some of the Sheep Universe novel here )

Warning: Basically all of these stories are a trigger warning for violence, pain, suffering, etc. Please ask if you want specifics on individual stories.

Title: The Stove
Genre: Fantasy
The Troops: Meander and Rose May
Status: Complete but rough
Rating: PG-13 for disturbing imagery
Summary: Some things, you just cannot forget or get past. Some things come back to haunt you...
Prompt: hc_bingo Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Author's Notes: I haven't worked with Meander in ages; it was fun to get into his head again.

( Why are the dreams I write so bizarre? )

Title: Surrogate Grove
Genre: Fantasy
The Troops: Dryads
Status: Complete but rough
Rating: PG-13 for disturbing imagery, violence, slavery, general awful
Summary: When you have no hope left, sometimes being alive is the last step forward.
Prompt: hc_bingo Slaves
Author's Notes: I couldn't figure out who would enslave what in my world, and then this happened.

( The stories just get more depressing from here. )

Title: For One's Land (Title Pending)
Genre: Fantasy
The Troops: Demons and mountain faeries
Status: Complete but rough
Rating: PG-13 for graphic violence, general awful
Summary: In a land where prey is scarce and predators are fierce, sometimes all that comes in the night is tragedy
Prompt: hc_bingo Bites
Author's Notes: First time trying third-person omnipresent in a LONG time. Also you all have raze to thank for this.

( Also first time I've written a legit fight in ages. )

Just need to finish the Gareth story and figure out a wild card story, now. Also sorry these are so rough and bad; I just want to get these in, and I'm very tired from insomnia.

Tschuess.

Bad brain spell, tonight. So I inked the drawing for my friend, loaded up Sims, and typed this up on my iPad:

( TW for disturbing imagery, war imagery, and uh, loss of limb? )

The _____ is for the name of the doctor, which I have forgotten and will look up later. Obviously, this scene is not finished yet since there isn't much comfort in there, but I imagine it will be pretty short.

Now to sleep.

Tschuess.

Should be asleep. Have words that are floating in my head instead. As if I'd write FORMALLY out of sequence.

---

"We did our best to get the stable dark and quiet. I still don't understand why she isn't in a hospital, though. She speaks Ubiquitous." The veterinarian frowned as he wiped his hands on a towel that likely would just leave them even dirtier. The horse he had just been treating did not look at him with much sympathy.

"Welcome to Welen. If you have fur, you're clearly just an animal." Gareth looked past the veterinarian; Rose May tried to follow his gaze, and noticed that one of the stables down the row had blankets and towels hanging from any space that was usually open, all but sealing it off. "She's in the one way at the end, I imagine?"

"Horses are a bit unsettled by her, and she seems to just HATE them. Says something about them smelling awful." The man shrugged, smiling softly. "I could relate to that. But why are you here to see her?"

"Legal business. No not about her, last I checked demons don't need immigration papers." Gareth sighed at the veterinarian's baffled stare, doing what Rose May could tell was his absolute best not to sneer and snarl. "About a case of ours. Hafstra Dagrun, you may have--"

"The demi doctor? What does she have to do with-- You know what, never mind. I'm too busy to be dragged into a court case." The doctor hung the towel up on an aging rack. "She's likely awake by now. You can see her."

He led them down the barn corridor, past various horses who only showed interest once they realized the doctor was not looking for them. Upon reaching the covered stable, Rose May noticed that light could still filter through. The veterinarian took his ring of keys, unlocked the stable door, and pulled it open with a creek. Carefully the two lawyers stepped underneath the blankets.

Then the vet closed the door just as Rose May spotted the being inside, and she wished she had an easier way out than pushing away blankets and clambering over wood.

She noticed the demon's claws first -- the front ones were thick and long, but blunt at the ends, with a few damaged at the tips. The back ones were not quite as long, but sharp, as were the demon's teeth with she yawned upon their arrival. Her head was vaguely cat-like, but the snout was too wide, the nose fleshy and twitching in their direction. Her legs looked stocky even when she was curled up, though she made up for it with length and weight. Long tufts of fur were raised and stiff near her ears, shoulders, and on her feet. Her eyes were small, focused vaguely in their direction -- Rose May was not sure she could see them that well, but suspected their scents gave the demon everything she needed to know.

Then there were the wounds -- gashes and cuts seemed to cover the demon's legs and upper body, with a towel tossed over one on her neck stained red and possibly still leaking. It looked like she had been hacked at with a sword, but Rose May could not imagine how that would have possibly happened. Swords had fallen out of fashion ages ago, and besides she was not sure even especially drunk idiots would go after a demon with them.

The demon's tail tossed to the other side, long tuft at the end mixing with the dirt of the stall. She had been provided a blanket that somehow was still not long enough, even though it was made for horses.

"'Legal business.'" Her voice was gravely, deep, and thick with a strange accent; Rose May could barely make out the words, but they were definitely in a human language. "Ground walkers and your odd habits, yes?"

"I apologize for our poor manners. We should have spoken to you directly right away but he was concerned for your health." Gareth took a step forward and knelt down to the demon's level. "I would greet you in your ways but I am not versed in them. I am Gareth Haeden."

"You would not like our greetings." The demon stretched then, and rose suddenly; though her shoulder was barely higher than two feet, her bulk made her seem far larger. She extended her head toward Gareth and sniffed at him cautiously, keeping weight off the more mauled of her front legs. "Anca, Gareth Haeden. Why are you here?"

"I am a lawyer representing a man who has been attacked, and I believe you were witness to this fight." At Anca's blank look, Gareth sighed. "A man was attacked by someone else. I am trying to help him. To do this I need to know what happened."

"You could help him more by banishing who attacked him and leaving me to my sleep." The demon then yawned in Gareth's face, but the lawyer seemed nonplussed; Rose May imagined this was not the worst thing that had happened to him, or even close to the most frightening.

"While I whole-heartedly agree, our system is not so sensible, and so I need to gather proof he was attacked by this man." Gareth paused. "The man I am representing is... Kind of half-bird. Does that sound familiar?"

"Bird?" Anca looked blankly at him once more. "I do recall an odd ground dweller, who did not smell anything like most of the ones I have met. But I do not know anything about these 'birds'."

Gareth waved her confusion away with a quick gesture that Anca watched intently. "It's probably him. Would you be willing to talk with us?"

"I thought I already was." Rose May swore that the demon smiled as she sat down awkwardly, tail curling around her feet. "Or at least to you. Your companion is too busy being frightened, though she has calmed some from the initial surprise."

"What?" Gareth turned around and stared at Rose May; she would have returned the look, but she was too busy being impressed by Anca. The man sighed. "Rose, get over here and introduce yourself at least."

She would have been encouraged by Gareth if she did not suspect that talking to things that may seriously maul him was more of a hobby for him than an avoided occurrence; yet she still walked over and sat down beside him, spreading her skirt as best she could to avoid the dirt. From what little anyone knew, demons had no interest in harming humans, and seemed to mostly prefer to avoid them. How Anca had ended up in a stable, then, was anyone's guess.

That had to wait until later, however, when it no doubt became Gareth's next project.

"Rose May Pursa. Pardon my rudeness."

"Rudeness? No. Sensibility." And then the demon grinned at them, baring two rows of sharp teeth. "So then. Let us continue our talk. Which of the many fights I saw do you claim to want your 'help' for?"


---

Bed now .

In an unusual turn of events, I feel really anxious for company right now -- not lonely, as is common with me, but instead just a kind of unease that says "I need a human. I need a human to talk to."

Also you know you have problems when you think to yourself "I wish I had mania so I could be productive." It doesn't work that way, brain.

So here, readers: have an excerpt from Abandoned Gardens in which Rose May's life goes to shit.

( Apparently I Write Emotion Well? )

So I am making my characters in the Sims III.

And oh man.

It shouldn't be this DIFFICULT.

First off, Sims III is like "Uh-duh, I'm not gonna let Rose May be overweight and have a narrow face, uh-dur." Even though that's just how her body WORKS. She naturally has a relatively narrow face and narrow nose, while she is a little plump. But Sims III apparently does not agree with this.

Also, I kept her watch on for all outfits, even sleeping or swimming, for hahas. She's such a workaholic she must know the time AT EVERY MOMENT.

And her traits are fairly straightforward. We can tell relatively quickly that Rose May is hard-working. It becomes clear that she is actually a self-professed Workaholic (Trait I), and a perfectionist (Trait II) at that. But what else? Well, her disapproval of Gareth's actions shows she is, in fact, a Good (Trait III) person. Her actions during the invasion of Antelon indicate she loves her family and puts them high on her list of priorities, making her Family-Oriented (Trait IV).

But that last trait?

Well, it's not like I don't know my character. But she is not friendly enough to have that trait, for she can stand off a bit. She fits little of the Body traits. She is ambitious, but not enough to make it a trait. She is an average flirt, has no real commitment issues, and is neutral to the subject of art. Technology didn't exist very much back then but she isn't bothered by what is there.

Caffeine-Addicted, sadly, is not a trait I can choose. So that narrows it down to two: Heavy Sleeper, and Hydrophobic. Her heavy sleeping tendencies are implied in AG (or will be). As for Hydrophobic, I simply cannot imagine Rose May willingly going out to a pool and jumping in. She'd rather read, or go out shopping, or chat over some tea.

I think I will stick with Heavy Sleeper since it is novel-related.

And as usual, the Sims pops out my character: one lifetime wish is "Big Family". It doesn't come up often in the novel, but Rose May is BIG on family and friends; her mother dying at a young age probably influenced that. While I can't see her wanting five children like Sims wish, she does care deeply for her daughters and husband, and extended friends, and harming them would be like having killed her mother.

Favourites isn't too difficult. Rose May strikes me as a classical fan, and her fondness of sandwiches makes me choose "Cheesesteak" for a meal. But colour? I picked Orange, though I have dressed Rose May in mostly browns and pastels. Just because I can.

For voice I choose a pitch a little on the low end, but still feminine.

Next... Nur. Last name is a first issue because vampires don't HAVE last names, so picked something random. The next issue is that fact that she's human, but I can't stop that. So at the end, after giving her afro-textured mini braids (vampires have uber-thick hair and styles like tight, mini braids and other "afro" styles are extremely common), baby-blue eyes, and such, I gave her tiger costume make-up. Just to symbolize the non-humanness. I also give her tattoos, as I can see vampires being big on tattoos. From there I made most of her clothing revealing and pink, because Nur, when not stuck in sunlight, shows it all off. Soon the game automatically started giving me exposing, pink clothes. That's the spirit, Sims III!

Now for traits. Flirty (Trait I) is a big one for Nur, who flirts with anything that moves. Next is a vampire trait, Good Sense of Humor (Trait II). Nur is also protrayed as being very wild, willingly going out in day regularly, which for vampires is a Daredevil (Trait III). Nur also seems to get excited by Rose May's common charades, making her Excitable (Trait IV). At this point I notice Nur's traits follow the alphabet (DEFG), and decide I must complete this. I choose Hydrophobic (Trait V). Big bodies of water, for vampires, are associated with swamps and thus with Oerdum, a species they have a shaky truce with and choose to avoid.

The Lifetime wishes my game give me aren't very Nur-ish; but then, what is Nur's goal in life? As a vampire, she doesn't really have one beyond have fun. So I go for the one that involves Charisma, as vampires love to make friends. This also means she'll need to be a good guitar player, but I can see that in Nur.

Favourites? As a blood drinker, favourite food is... Tricky. I pick Sushi since it's raw, though vampires are not fish fans (fish = Oerdum prey = OERDUM AAAAH). The game has already picked Pink for her favourite colour; I'm telling you, this game reads my mind. And music? I think of Nur as a metal fan, but we'll choose Indie. Because this is NUR.

Next is Meander. I give him a splash of grey in his hair to differentiate from Nur's. The guy I'm given is a cute kid in glasses; not quite, Sims. We'll see if it figures it out. Meander is rather thin, with some muscle, and a naturally-bony and angular face. That's what a life of malnutrition does to you. Clothing is trickier, though; Meander doesn't strike me as terribly former or certain of what to wear, even in his later years. I throw random stuff together.

Next are traits. Meander is mostly defined by his bipolar, but he also has a Good Sense of Humor (Trait I). To show his bipolar, I choose Over-Emotional (Trait II), which makes a Sim's mood swings more severe. He is very focused on learning how to read, which makes me think that once he learns, he's probably a bit of a Bookworm (Trait III). He is also extremely shy, even once he understands society a bit more, making him somewhat of a Loner (Trait IV). The last trait is tricky. Meander strikes me as not being a big flirt, but he'se also extremely intelligent, though perhaps not genius-level. He's very polite, but that doesn't translate into friendly. So I think I'll just stick with Unflirty (Trait V).

The Lifetime wishes I'm given revolve around writing. This is odd, since in the novel Meander actually makes intricate jewerly for a job. However, considering his interest in news, I don't see "Star News Anchor" as being too odd except concerning how shy he is. However, novel!Meander has powerful telepathy, so he could probably avoid talking too much. Star News Anchor it is!

Favourites are next. Meander likes any food he can find due to being starved when young. And dammit, I totally forgot he's a natural chef! We'll replace Unflirty with Natural Chef. Sadly, this means we lose "Star News Anchor", so we'll pick the "Five Star Chef" trait.

For favourite food, I choose "Stu Surprise", as it strikes me as a cheap, warm comfort food. Music is Classical and Colour is "Sea Foam"; random choices, basically. Voice is tricky; Meander speaks with a thick accent even later on, so I pick a deeper voice, and find one that sounds accented.

Last but certainly not least is Almas. I would do Gareth and Andy too, but they are not in fact part of the household in Malanee. They will be their separate family.

Almas is paler than pale and also muscular, which gives him hilarious broad shoulders. I also give him cornrows because FUCK YES CORNROWS, then realize Almas really wouldn't wear that hairstyle. Boooo, Almas. But then I find this weird "I'm trying to shape my hair like a stereotypical Native American headdress" thing and it is PERFECT and I'm happy again.

Almas ends up as the sexiest Sim alive. I don't know either. I don't give him tattoos because he strikes me as not so crazy, but he does get the tiger face paint. His clothing is also going to be more normal. Almas is boring. He gets an earring for effort and almost a tuxedo for formal wear.

I fiddle with a bathrobe for pajamas before the more I work with it, the more I realize Almas would be ridiculous in his own way. BUNNY SLIPPERS FOR THE WIN.

Now for Traits. Like all vampires, Almas has a Good Sense of Humor (Trait I). He is also shown, time and again in AG, as being very Friendly (Trait II). Though not touched upon in AG (perhaps it will), Almas is a Light Sleeper (Trait III) since the last time he slept deeply, he almost died. Though also not extensively touched upon, Almas is very good with people (he used to be a bartender) and so is Charismatic (Trait IV). The last one is tricky, though. I don't want him to share too many traits with Nur so Hydrophobic is out of the question. He had a boyfriend, so he has no Commitment Issues. I choose Neat (Trait V) because he strikes me as very tidy.

Favourites are Sushi, Pop, and I think blue?

Now for pictures!



Rose May with her SO NOT RIGHT FACE AUGH. I just couldn't lose the look of the original Sim completely.

In the background bringing sexy back is...



Nur! Yes, she would totally wear something like that.



Almas with his mysterious hair.



Meander looking Asian, WHOOPS.

So yeah, this kind of failed, but it was fun and I did mainly for the Traits. Next will be Gareth and Andy when I get around to it.

Edit - Typos LOL

Tschuess.