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The Bard's Concerto



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Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:54 am
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Mageheart says...



The Bard’s Concerto



Image


Roles

Lead Guitarist - Magebird
Vocalist - SilverNight
Keyboardist - Yoshikrab
Drummer - Valkyria
Bassist - piyaliarchives


You’ve been having weird dreams lately.

Not that you can remember them. They’re the kind of dream you forget the moment you awaken. But even though you can’t remember what the dreams were about, you can remember the feeling of them. They feel dark and heavy, like a piano quietly playing a solo in a minor key. The feeling drags you down for the rest of the day. Almost everything you try doing fails to make it go away.

The only thing that seems to work is music. When you’re listening or playing to it, the feeling vanishes. The dream tries to return to you when you’re done with your music, but it’s never as strong as it was before you let the music take over.

Still, you feel like you’re endlessly trudging your way through life. Something has to change. If it doesn’t, you’re not going to be able to fight your forgotten dreams anymore. As if magically answering your call, you suddenly find yourself in a completely new world.

But that’s not really the right way to describe what happened. You were the one who actually answered the call. The world of Allegro has been desperately fighting against demons plaguing its entire population, but they’re not making much progress.The only thing that works against these demons is the power of music. There’s just a slight problem: Allegro isn’t all that musical. Struggling to win a seemingly impossible battle, they had to turn to a questionable source of musical firepower: bards from Earth. The term is a little outdated on both worlds, but you’re essentially a hero now.

And the only way you’re going to win against these demons is by playing in a band.

Armed with the instrument that beckons you, four other musicians, and a whole lot of hope, you’ll fight against the powers of darkness - and hopefully find a way home.

Who knows? You might even be able to put an end to those dreams.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Mon Mar 15, 2021 8:06 pm
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Mageheart says...



The Characters


Spoiler! :
Image


Name/Nicknames: Rosaria "Rose/Rosie/Winter" Winterquist

Role: Guitarist

Gender/Pronouns: Cis girl, she/her.

Sexuality/Up for Romance: Aroace, so no on the romance.

Age: 17

Appearance: Rose ultimately dresses for comfort. Her go-to outfit is a combination of faded jeans, a dark t-shirt, a soft, gray hoodie, and her trusty pair of brown leather boots. She also always wears half of a silver best friend necklace.

Outside of her outfit style, Rose has messy brown hair that goes a little past her chest. She usually keeps it in a slightly messy braid. Her eyes are blue, and her skin has a slight tan to it. She's not too tall, but she's also not too short. She's basically average height for a girl her age.

Personality: Depending on who you ask, Rose is either a pessimist or a realist. She likes bringing reason to situations where reason has been mostly avoided. Whether this is by shooting down too-optimistic ideas or coming up with a strategy to handle a conflict, Rose tends to take the reserved, somewhat levelheaded and cynical approach. That's not to say that she comes off as cold and distant; she doesn't. She just has a tendency to express how done she is with the world.

(Her personality is heavily inspired by Misaki Okusawa in BanG Dream!.)

Connection to Instrument: Rose won a raffle with a friend a few years back. The raffle involved basic music gear - including an acoustic guitar. Rose didn't really want that kind of guitar; it wasn't really her style. But her friend wanted her to keep it so they could do duets together, so she did. Even when they went their separate ways, Rose still hung onto that guitar.

(Even though she would have rather played an electric guitar.)

Backstory: Rose's life hasn't really been remarkable. It's just been a normal, run-of-the-mill life. She has two parents. They care about her and she cares about them, but they're not especially close. She's an only child. She spent every year of her life in the same suburban town on the east coast of the US.

The one notable thing in her life was becoming friends with a girl named Anna. The two of them were close for years. Everyone always joked that they were joined at the hip. Anna was really into music - and even more into performance. Even though Rose didn't want to really perform, she often got dragged into Anna's antics.

At some point, they stopped being friends. Rose doesn't really talk about it now. She just goes about her day: going to school, working a part time job at the local convenience store, and heading home early in the evening to watch anime and read web comics.

Other: Even though they aren't friends anymore, Rose still wears the friendship necklace she got for Anna.


Spoiler! :
Name/Nicknames: Alice "Green" Carroll

Role: Drummer

Gender/Pronouns: Female; she/her

Sexuality/Up for Romance: Straight; No

Age: 16

Appearance: Alice has straight, raven black hair that cascades down her back. Her bangs are side-swept, just over her hazel eyes. She is 5'9.

Alice dresses casually, usually in sweatpants or jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers. She loves wearing tie-dye, and she wears a bright blue bow in her hair.

Personality: Alice is spunky, adventurous, and curious. She loves traipsing through the unknown and making new memories. Every day, there's something new to discover for her.

When Alice doesn't want to do anything, she'll curl up by the fireplace and bury herself in a book, wearing her favorite pajamas.

Connection to Instrument: Alice's uncle gave her a little drum set for her eighth birthday. Alice loved it so much even though she didn't know how to play it. She used to play it all the time, every day.

A few months after, her drums disappeared. Her parents sadly told her that it was stolen. It took Alice until she was sixteen to realize that her parents took it because the drums were the only things taken.

Backstory: Alice grew up in a small town in north NH. She knows every nook and cranny of it. When she was younger, her mother read to her every night, and Alice wanted to be a hero like the protagonists.

Her parents fed her growing curiosity, but they knew when to reign her in. Alice, an only child, loves them so much.

Other: Alice started watching cartoons again, and she loves looking for fluid animation or different shots and angles. She also watches a lot of movie reviews on Youtube, so she's started critiquing the movies as well because she finds it fun.


Spoiler! :
Image


Name/Nicknames: Skyler “Sky” Kinsley

Role: Vocalist

Gender/Pronouns: Cis girl, she/her.

Sexuality/Up for Romance: Biromantic and ace, possibly up for romance.

Age: 17

Appearance: Skyler likes wearing comfortable long sleeved shirts and jeans. Her favorite colors to wear are blue and black. She invested in some leather boots that have lasted for a couple years and were worth the expense, in her opinion.

Her blond hair is braided and has a few darker streaks running through it, and it frames her face quite nicely. Skyler has unusual blue-green eyes that tend to catch people’s attention.

Personality: Skyler has confidence, and that confidence doesn’t rely on how others see her. She may seem rather bold at times, but she knows how to treat others kindly, assuming they don’t irritate her too much. When dealing with someone she doesn’t like, she’ll be often turn to sarcasm. Otherwise, she’s quite friendly and sympathetic, with great levels of compassion for those who are struggling.

Connection to Instrument: Skyler’s family never had the money to buy an instrument; otherwise, she would have been very interested in learning to play one. Instead, she discovered her love for singing at her school’s choir. Her voice earned her much appraisal, and she performed at every opportunity. Although her talent was clear, she never got any fame.

Backstory: Growing up, Skyler wasn’t poor exactly— but her father had to work two jobs in order to pay bills and feed her and her two younger siblings. They couldn’t afford any luxuries or vacations. Her parents were divorced soon after her sister (who is 14 now) Kyla was born, and Skyler hasn’t seen her mother since. She has a single blurry memory of her on a summer day, but she doesn’t miss her all that much.

Her life in London only became a real struggle until her father was accused of a robbery he never would have committed, and he went to jail for it. Skyler was 15 at the time. Her brother Ace was just a year younger, and Kyla wasn’t even a teenager yet, meaning they were too young to live on their own and had to live with their aunt, who Skyler did not like at all. She was eventually kicked out of the house after an argument, and she was forced to leave her siblings behind.

Skyler had to rely on her vocal talent in order to make money. She dropped off out of school in order to become a street performer, singing on sidewalks and subway stations. Eventually, she raised enough money to buy a cheap plane ticket to NYC and leave England behind, continuing the same work there that she had been doing before. Relying on donations is an unsure way of making money, and Skyler would gladly jump on a better opportunity.

Other: Skyler also has a love for theater and acting, especially musicals. She has made some money from playing in a few of those. Additionally, she tried writing letters to her siblings after they were separated, but when she never received replies, she was able to figure out that her aunt had been throwing them away before her brother or sister ever saw them.


Spoiler! :
Image


Name/Nicknames: Darlene "Darla" Byron

Role: Bassist

Gender/Pronouns: Cis girl, she/her

Sexuality/Up for Romance: Straight, maybe??

Age: 15

Appearance: Her wardrobe usually consists of expensive dresses chosen by her mother. She wears dark coloured dresses up to knee length with a cardigan in a lighter shade. Her outfits are often made for appearance as she attends her parent's fancy social gatherings.

She wears her dark brown hair down, which gets mistaken for black often. Her gloomy eyes are blue-grey in colour. If you ever see her in public, she is always prim and proper, as opposed to her personality.

Personality: If you ask her classmates, they would refer to her as an "odd person". That would be... right and wrong.

With little interest in school, Darla lives in a world of her own. People wonder why she keeps bobbing her head up and down in class, little do they know that Darla secretly listens to music through hiding her earphones. While in her family everyone favours elegant piano music, Darla loves rock bands.

Her real personality is very opposite to her appearance. If you are not an outsider to her, but someone close who she calls a friend, then you would notice that she is an optimistic person. Very. So much so that she is sometimes a bit annoying with her range of positivity. Basically, she is a golden retriever.

Connection to Instrument: Her old friend, Leo (short for Leonard), always played music with Darla. Darla never took it seriously, but later realized that her heart was only for music, particularly bass.

After parting with her old friend, to remember him, she started bass again. Luckily, many people in her school were also into music, so they started a band. But after many tries and after much positive motivation from Darla, it disbanded because of unsuccess.
Even Darlene got demotivated and later left her love, music.

Backstory: Darla comes from a rich family. Well, not exactly.
The first-ever home that she remembers was an orphanage. Her only friend and almost like an older brother was Leo. The memories of the orphanage that were the happiest were of Leo. He taught her everything, music. And even though not an elegant person himself, he also taught her etiquette and manners.

But this happiness didn't last long. Darla was lucky to get adopted by a rich family. Everything changed, from her dresses to her personality. Good thing was that she entered into a nice family, but her friend Leo wasn't this lucky. He got pushed into dirty jobs, till, he was in criminal records.

Darla knows this, even though she can't do anything, she tries to remember the good times with Leo through a special thing that connected them, music.

Other: Darla fancies painting her nails, always a bright colour contrasting with black.


Spoiler! :
Name/Nicknames: Jason "Minnie" Oakland

Role: Keyboardist

Gender/Pronouns: Male-- He/him/his

Sexuality/Up for Romance: Bi and probably open for romance ig

Age: 16

Appearance: Jason is african-american and has short, cropped hair. He has a muscular body, wide shoulders, and large hands. Upon close inspection, he has kind, soulful eyes and a gentle touch, which he uses to play piano with graceful skill.

Personality: Despite his muscular, footballish appearance, Minnie is actually pretty shy and awkward. He grew up with an abusive uncle and homeschooled until high school, where he is currently a sophomore. Minnie was always nicknamed "Minnie" by his cousins because he was afraid of many things as a kid. He grew up with the name and it stuck, so now he doesn't go by Jason anymore. Minnie also has exceptional talent for piano, which is how he convinced his uncle to send him to high school. Minnie enjoyed high school because he was never made fun of-- he looked like a football player.

Connection to Instrument: Minnie's piano was actually owned by his uncle, who had some skill in the instrument. However, his uncle abandoned the instrument in the basement after Minnie's uncle started gambling and drinking, turning into a different man. Minnie found the shabby piano when he was very young and practiced it day and night just for the fun of it. One day, his uncle found out Minnie desperately asked his uncle to teach him. His uncle reluctantly agreed. The piano completely broke after a month of intense practice. However, since his uncle was poor, they couldn't afford a new piano. Minnie, who had already become accustomed to playing the piano day and night-- it was his only comfort-- worked part-time jobs at the age of eleven and earned enough money for a cheap, used piano by the time his twelfth birthday came around. From then on, he continued to nurture his talent with increasing speed and intensity.

Backstory: Oops. I MIGHT have explained the entire backstory in the "Connection to the Instrument" and "Personality" . . . whoops . . .

Other: Minnie is actually from one of my novels (A sci-fi one). Uhhhh. idk what else.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Thu Mar 18, 2021 12:36 pm
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Mageheart says...



The day started out like any other weekend day.

It was a Saturday. Rose had one of her longer shifts at the local convenience store, but it was manageable. No one was rushing to buy anything, so she spent the majority of the day on her phone. By the time her shift was done, she was ready for a night full of anime and web comics. Free Hexel had recently updated. She could also catch up on all of the episodes of Jujustu Kaisen she was behind on. No matter what she ended up doing, it would be lowkey and not the least bit tiring.

She stifled a yawn as she slipped inside of her house and headed for her room. Those dreams had been getting worse lately. She still didn't remember them, but they hung over her the rest of the day. She couldn't help but glance at the guitar case collecting dust in her corner. Anna would have been horrified to see how she was treating it.

...Not that they even spoke to each other anymore.

Rose sighed.

She didn't even know why she was thinking of her right now. Pushing the thought of Anna and her guitar out of her mind, she turned to close her door-

-and was immediately blinded by a flash of white light.

A moment later, she found herself in an empty white room.

What the h-
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:58 am
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piyaliarchives says...



*Darla*


It wasn’t a good day, nor a satisfactory night for Darla.

She had forgotten her earphones at home. So she had to spend the entire day without music at school. That meant hell to her because only music could make her forget about her weird dreams. The dreams that Darla had been having were getting worse and worse lately. Instead of just having a mentally exhausted mind, she was also feeling physically worse after she woke up.

After the last bell rang, she rushed to her locker, which had a name tag “Darlene” made of letter stickers. While grabbing all the things to take home, she found her earphones. She screamed in frustration. Luckily nobody seemed to pay attention.

Carrying her heavy bag, she climbed on her school bus, and she finally reached her home.

Aside from the loud chatters of strangers in her big house, a fast-paced piano was being played. This could mean only one thing.

A party was going on. Surprised, she was not, she just wanted to go to her room and sleep now. She ran. Between two gentlemen, a little kid and an annoying aunt. She ran through all that. But suddenly a thin woman with anger clearly showing on her face got in her way. It was her mom.

“Why are you running? Do you want to embarrass me in front of my guests?” She asked with a strict tone of voice.

Darla replied, “Mom, I am exhausted right now, I want to sleep”.

“No, you will not. Please go to your room and wear new clothes, which I bought for you”.

Darla nodded and went to her room. A new outfit she wore, which was not her dress but her night suit. She wasn’t in the mood to socialise right now. She kept her bass guitar on her bed. Whenever she would wake up from a horrible dream, she would play some music to soothe her mind. She didn’t want to play it as it reminded her of her orphanage days and Leo, but she couldn’t do anything else to cure her post-dream headache.

She connected her earphones to her phone and put it to her ears. She closed her eyes.

But she didn’t see darkness...

Coruscant white light beamed in her eyes and she suddenly crashed into a chair, fell on the ground and found herself in a pure white room. The room contained of white chairs, a white table and a frozen brunette girl.





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Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:31 pm
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Valkyria says...



Alice wiped the sweat off of her forehead and reached up again, straining with all her might. The branches poked her, but she couldn't give up. The kids were counting on her.

"Did you get it yet, Green?" asked the little boy at the foot of the tree. He glanced at her anxiously. His friends bounced on their toes, eager to see Alice get the kite.

"Almost, Jim," she replied, leaning against the thick trunk. She stood up on her toes and finally grasped the tail of the kite. Grinning, she yelled down, "Got it!"

The kids cheered, and Alice climbed down, giving Jim his kite.

"Thanks, Green," he said. Alice brushed the dirt off her uniform and smiled at him.

"You're welcome, but next time, fly your kite away from the trees," she told him. He nodded and ran off with his friends.

"That's a ridiculous name," said her boss. He stood at the doorway, glaring at her. "And I'm not paying you to play with children."

"It's my nickname, Mr. Slate," said Alice. She stood with arms akimbo, grinning at him. "Besides, the kids' kite got stuck in the tree, and they asked me to help."

Mr. Slate huffed. "I've got a new shipment of books coming in, and I want you coming right over at school tomorrow. Don't be late."

"Will do, sir!" said Alice, giving him a casual salute. He rolled his eyes and went back in. If there was one good thing about her grumpy boss, it was that he gave her enough work to distract her from those weird dreams. Alice pulled her backpack on and checked her notifications on her phone.

"Ooh, new episode," she said, smiling. She would have to watch Helluva Boss later.

Suddenly, a bright light erupted out of nowhere, blinding her.

Alice gasped in shock when she found herself in an unfamiliar, white room with two unfamiliar people.
There is always something left to love.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude





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Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:55 pm
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SilverNight says...



~Skyler~


The speaker wasn't turning on.

Skyler scowled, checking that it wasn't broken. On the outside, the speaker she used for musical accompaniment seemed fine. However, that only meant it had a problem that she couldn't see, so she wouldn't be able to fix it easily.

That was an issue, since it was already nine in the morning and it was a perfect day for street performing. She had checked the weather forecast, and it was supposed to stay sunny. It was also summer, when New York City was overrun by tourists. Extra people meant the chance to earn more money, and that was good news, if she hoped to ever have savings.

But Sky wasn't going to collect much if she had to sing acapella.

Sighing, she sat down on her thin mattress, leaning against the old wall. The paint on the ceiling was peeling again. Her cheap apartment was far from attractive, with only two rooms— a larger one that combined a kitchenette and a space for a used couch and the bed she was sitting on right now, while the other was a small bathroom with cracked tiles— and it was in pretty bad shape. Sky had seen her fair share of cockroaches and water leaks. And she'd be much happier without her annoying neighbors. It was the best place she could find that had low rent, though.

Sky sang a few scales under her breath, eyes on the speaker that refused to work as she thought. Singing calmed her, both by chasing away anxiety and clearing her head of the faint wisps of dreams she'd been having. She couldn't remember when they'd started or what exactly they were, but they felt meaningful. Unfortunately, they were also a distraction.

She'd performed at several restaurants a few times. Maybe one of them would pay her to sing backup vocals last minute or something...

Sky was about to make a call to one of them when everything seemed to suddenly vanish in a burst of light. It had to be the curtains that had needed replacing for ages now. She stumbled as she got up, unable to find her way around. Her hand reached for a wall, something to lean against so she could stabilize herself, but it slipped through empty space. A brief feeling of panic shot through her.

When the light faded, everything was still white, but at least it wasn't bright. Sky blinked, feeling dazed. She could see that she wasn't alone in this place. There were three people here already, and one glance at them told her she'd never seen any of them in her life.

Which meant she had no clue about where she was now.
"silv is obsessed with heists" ~Omni

"silv why didn't you tell me you were obsessed with heists I thought we were friends" ~Ace

"y’all we outnumber silver let’s overthrow her >:]" ~winter

silver (she/they)





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Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:06 pm
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yosh says...



Minnie


Interesting. Such a very mind-boggling word. For someone to call you interesting, it had a myriad of possible meanings. 'Interesting' wasn't exactly positive, but it wasn't exactly an insult either.

If someone said you were interesting, it was more like they were saving you for future evaluation. Minnie didn't like the word interesting. Every time he said his name was just "Minnie" and not "Jason", adults would say, "Hmm. Interesting."

Oh, how Minnie despised that word. Everywhere he went, he was deemed as "interesting" and not "bad" or "good". In fact, Minnie would have liked it better even if people said he was sinister or evil. At least, if he was a villain, he had a place in this world. As "interesting", he was just a wanderer of the mind, someone unimportant-- someone unworthy of deep thought.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he interpreted the word wrong. But to Minnie, being "interesting" was the ultimate insult.

Minnie swiped his hands musically across the keyboard, relishing the soft, wood keys. He could almost feel the emotion streaming from the mellow instrument. Minnie swiped every last corner of the piano, determined to let the piano have the best day ever.

Sadly, no music came out. The shopkeeper had already said that if Minnie played the piano while cleaning it, he would be punished.

It was almost torture, but it was the highest-paying job that Minnie had-- cleaning pianos.

He was already getting close to finding enough money to get his piano tuned. His piano was unlike the majestic ones in the Piano Shop. His piano was used, old, and in eternal pain. When Minnie first saw his piano, he almost cried. There was dust, scratches, and peeled paint everywhere. No piano should ever deserve such horrible treatment.

Minnie was about to leave when the shopkeeper surprised him. The shopkeeper looked at Minnie, "Hey, here's your payment for this month."

Minnie smiled, "Thank you."

He walked home, counting the money. He was getting close to 100 dollars when suddenly there was a flash of light, and he landed in a white room with four other people.
they told me to never give up on my dreams.

so i took another nap





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Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:24 pm
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Mageheart says...



For a moment, all that Rose did was stare at the others in the room. She had watched countless shows and read countless stories where characters were magically brought from one place to another, but she had never imagined what she would do in a situation like that.

I could have been kidnapped, she tried to convince herself. But she had been inside of her room before ending up here - she hadn't been knocked unconscious or fallen asleep. She had been in one place one minute and a different place the next.

Rose took a step back and pinched her arm.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:26 pm
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Valkyria says...



Alice rubbed her eyes, but she was still in the white room, and the other kids were still staring at each other.

"Curiouser and curiouser," she muttered as she straightened the bow in her hair. "What the hell is going on?" she asked louder, looking around.

It looked like a cell in one of those dystopian novels. There were no windows, not even one piece of furniture.

But there was a door at the other end.

"Maybe that's our way out of here," she said, pointing to it.
There is always something left to love.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude





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Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:16 pm
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Mageheart says...



That was a very good question.

Giving a sigh, Rose started to reluctantly accept that this was very much real. She glanced around the room one last time to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Nothing jumped out at her. The only things in this room were the people, the furniture, and the door.

Then she turned back to the girl who had spoken.

"It looks like it's the only option we have," Rose said. "I don't think we have a choice in if we should go through there or not."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:47 pm
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yosh says...



"The real question is . . . um . . . why did I just see a white light and get moved to here?" Minnie pointed out, "I'm in complete favor of dialing 911 instead of going through a suspicious door."
they told me to never give up on my dreams.

so i took another nap








There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.
— Bram Stoker